I recently read an article titled “No Doctor For You.” While the author made some decent points about the pitfalls of our current healthcare in the U.S., he also tipped me over the edge of restraint by using the all-too-often used phrase “Our health care system is . . . broken.” (It’s the second to last line of the article.)
(Before I make you very angry at me by what I continue on with, make no mistake- I have no ill wishes against any person needing any type of healthcare. I know there are many out there who need medical attention. I know people who have gone very deep in debt paying for tragic medical conditions. And for the record, I truly wish these situations were not so. )
The American healthcare system is broken…
Because not everybody has healthcare, or good enough access to healthcare. Not everyone can afford it. Not everyone can get it when they need it. In short: It’s not fair.
WHEN HAS IT EVER BEEN FAIR??
Something is considered broken when previously it had been working properly.
Please tell me then, at what time in American history has everyone had full access to quality medical care? When has everyone been able to get an appointment in a timely fashion? When was it that all the doctors and nurses led stress-free, smoothly running practices with angelic patients?
Maybe “Obamacare” is making it all worse. Maybe 40% of the doctors will retire. Maybe I will have to wait 55 days instead of 33 to get into a specialist. But we’re not all going to be given shots of whiskey and leaches, or herbs from the back yard, or a witch-doctor and a talisman.
We’ve come a long way, we know so much more, and compared to many countries, we are still doing pretty well, thank you.
No, I suppose our healthcare system isn’t quite fair yet. But don’t make it sound as if it once was fair. Life wasn’t fair in Kindergarten when the kid in front of you got the last chocolate chip cookie and you were stuck with oatmeal, and life isn’t fair now. But that doesn’t mean life is “broken.”
So, dear author of “No Doctor For You,” if you have no ideas to present of how we may perhaps improve upon the situation, if you cannot offer any hope, if you cannot recognize the sparkles of hope we have, and if you cannot be content with your oatmeal cookie, please keep your statistics and brokenness whining to yourself. Perhaps we can find you some leaches out back.
