Thursday, February 25, 2010

Thoughts on Health Care Meeting Today

Today I spent a few hours watching the president's meeting on healthcare. After a while, it became more of the same, so I gave up.

I did come away with one thought. What is happening to the American family? Barack Obama, himself, said as a reason for healthcare reform that his dying mother spent days arguing with the insurance company when she could have spent that time with her family. He said that the companies disputed her coverage. Why didn't he get authority from her to deal with the insurance companies? That certainly would have eased her stress. If he were too young at the time, how about her parents?

Nancy Pelosi also spoke about a man who is about to lose his home because of his wife's medical expenses. This man would rather lose his home than let his grown children know of their parents' predicament. Unless this man was a horrible person, I'm sure his children would have tried to find a solution to the problems. I know parents don't like to let their children know of their problems, but I don't think that those children would want their parents out on the street because of illness.

Back in 1940, my parents who had two small children, ages 4 and 1 and lived in a two bedroom apartment, invited an out of town friend and her husband to stay with them while their 1 year old girl had surgery for a cleft palate. It must have been difficult for them to have four adults and two children in that small apartment with only one person working. But that's how it was back then, people chipped in and helped family and friends. No one demanded help from the government.

I took some notes during the early part of this meeting and will comment on them another time. I just had to get these examples off my chest.

2 comments:

ms/sss said...

Things seemed simpler, didn't they? Remember Dr. Paul Altruda? You were sick. He came to your house, gave you a shot, told Mom what to do... His bill was a challenge for our parents to pay, yet it was certainly affordable. And they paid because they weren't living far beyond their means. Mom didn't have credit cards for extras. She had deposits on the empty bottles and dessert was determined by this windfall.
I liked those days!
ms/sss

BetteJo said...

My family lives all over the country and all of us work. None of us can stay home to take care of my mom which is why she just had to go to a nursing home. I have thought about this subject a LOT. Used to be people just took care of their own, now - not so much.