How lucky for them that their health is a result of their decisions. Be a real shame if that should change.

::trying very hard not to wish tumors on people however educational it would be::

::trying not to add onto that "accidental" missed payments that gives them no coverage::

How lucky for them that their health is a result of their decisions. Be a real shame if that should change.

Right? I was appalled. And sickened.

The non-doctor, successful business owner regaled us with a story about how, since he paid his doctor cash for a preventive visit (versus using insurance), the doctor knocked the fee down from $100 to $50.

Why, how had I been so blind? OF COURSE his way is better! I mean, can't EVERYONE afford $50 doctor visits??? Even people who support a family on minimum goddamned wage can afford that! Fuck them if they can't make rent or feed their children or get the utilities turned off in the winter -- EVERYONE can find $50 in their budget to see a doctor, instead of showing up at the ER and "scamming the system" like the deadbeats they are!

I don't think I can talk to these people any more, and it makes me really sad, because of how long I've known them, and how big a part of my life they used to be.

The ER doctor -- like I said, I've known them since high school -- is a very intelligent man, and from all accounts, a very, very good doctor.

And yet? If I showed up at his ER, I think I would pray to NOT get him for my doctor, because I wouldn't want to be treated by someone who thought that I was trying to scam the system.

Shitbags.

They are indeed shitbags. I don't know if it helps any, but I deal with lots of doctors every day. I was at a company picnic with a bunch of them yesterday. The overwhelming majority of physicians that I have met honestly care about their patients and really do want the system to be fixed. They don't necessarily know how to fix it, but they are also extremely frustrated with the system that requires them to waste time playing bureaucratic games with the insurance companies rather than caring for patients.

The system is seriously broken, and the blame lies squarely on asshats like your acquaintances above, and greedy soulless insurance companies.

The system is seriously broken, and the blame lies squarely on asshats like your acquaintances above, and greedy soulless insurance companies.

My doctor "friend" compared health insurance to hypothetical "plumbers' insurance": "You don't have plumbers' insurance, do you? If your sink clogs, you call the plumber, he fixes it, and you pay him. If people had plumbers' insurance and knew that whenever their sink clogged, they could get it fixed for free, they'd put all kinds of shit down their drain because they don't care -- it's free!"

[Really? Because, even if I knew my plumber had to fix my sink for free, I wouldn't deliberately try to break it, because it's not worth my time and inconvenience of having a broken sink, just for the -- what? shits and giggles, I guess, of cramming turkey legs and fecal matter down my drain.]

What I think based on that analogy, is that he truly thinks that most people are flat-out ignorant. (Or, at least, not as smart as *him.* I mean, he's a DOCTOR! Who could EVER be as smart as HIM?)

So I assume he's arguing against any kind of health insurance at all, because it just encourages us to...what? Huff allergens until we develop asthma?

Basically, what he's saying is that anyone who doesn't live the way he thinks they should, ought to pay out the ass for health insurance -- the example he gave was smokers should pay higher premiums, as well as people who use illegal drugs, and... [at that point he trailed off, looking pointedly at me and another friend's fiance, who is also overweight].

I'm so angry the more I recount it, and I'm trying so hard to let it go because it's going to ruin my day -- I've already ranted at length to The Boy, who shut me up last night (at home) by macking on me [I love than man] -- and it's not worth my peace of mind.

It is NOT my job to teach these shitbags about their unfuckingbelievably enormous amounts of white, male, cis*, hetero, upper-middle-class, over-educated privilege. Fuck them.

I'm sorry people who you have liked in the past have turned out to be jerks today, Tep. That's always a slap in the face. But, yeah, not your responsibility.

I'm amazed that people really feel they have that much power over their health.

and it's not worth my peace of mind.

They are not. We all know the countless reasons that they are wrongheaded. They aren't going to change. Believe and know that the majority aren't that way, or at least surround yourself with the people worthy of your time and attention. I hope you have the option of not spending time with these two.

I think ER work can exacerbate these selfish tendencies in the people who work in them. My SiL has worked in several ERs in her career and she was shocked by how many of the people they saw each day were not "sick." They were addicts looking for drugs or drunk drivers or people who'd done stupid stuff like drunk-racing ATVs. Luckily, she was able to separate the day-to-day experience from the larger health care picture, but she said that it got hard after the 10th day in a row of being screamed at, attacked and/or vomited on by drunk people.

She said it was disillusioning to go into the work to save lives and spend most of your time wrangling people who had caused their own problems. Her husband, by the way, is a recovering addict, so she has a lot of belief in rehab etc, but the people she said clogged their waiting rooms were often not addicts--just idiots.

I think ER work can exacerbate these selfish tendencies in the people who work in them. My SiL has worked in several ERs in her career and she was shocked by how many of the people they saw each day were not "sick." They were addicts looking for drugs

Yeah, I do understand that. But he doesn't want to separate that -- which is its own problem (drug-seekers) -- from people who don't have health insurance and can't afford to just go to the doctor when sick who then have no other choice but to use the ER as their only healthcare provider.

If preventive care were affordable (or free) for everyone, it would greatly reduce the numbers of people who use the ER as their only healthcare provider.

And I realize I'm preaching to the choir; I just can't stop thinking about it.

Charge higher premiums on people who "make bad choices"? How many alcoholic drinks per week can someone have before their premiun goes up because they're creating a higher risk for cirrhosis? What if they have a genetic/familial tendency to alcoholism? Then can they drink any alcohol, or does their premium go up if they take one drink, ever?

The Boy brought up the point that such nonsense would be a MASSIVE violation of privacy.

What about people who play sports? They have much higher risk of -- depending on the sport -- torn ACLs, traumatic brain injury, broken bones -- should they pay higher premiums? Or are certain sports exempt?

What about women? They're more likely to have complications of pregnancy (versus men), so clearly the possession of a uterus -- even if you NEVER GODDAMN USE IT -- should mean you pay a higher premium?

And fuck all those children who get cancer or severe asthma -- you KNOW how kids just get into all sorts of shit and bring their potentially fatal diseases on themselves.

My doctor "friend" is a gay man. I hope he's paying a higher premium because he's in the largest at-risk group to get infected with HIV.

What the fucking fuck, you know? I'm so goddamned angry.