Coyote's Canyon Journal

"Now I see the secret of the making of the best persons. It is to grow in the open air and to eat and sleep with the earth." -- Walt Whitman, Song of the Open Road

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Location: Canyon State of Mind, United States

I enjoy writing. I don't actually make a living with my English degree, so I keep a blog for fun. The blog is first draft, and as a former editor I apologize for any weird errors that may be present. I do not apologize for writing about things that matter to me. Thanks for reading.

Wednesday, February 28, 2007

Unacceptable.

Md. boy dies from toothache - MSNBC.com

Oh. My. GOD. I am SO angry.

This kid could have been just fine with regular dental check-ups and an $80 root canal.

This is an outrage. As libertarian as I am, I do think that health care in this country needs to be available to everyone, because we all eventually have to pay for things like this that could have been smaller bills with happier outcomes. Before my husband became an EMT, we were both for keeping healthcare private and market-driven...but after he saw how many people call the ambulance as their primary care provider, he realized that something was very wrong with the system as it is. This boy's death is a HUGE red flag.

Let's see...we'll declare war on Iraq for shifting reasons, but let's keep people here at home sick because--HEY--people being sick is ALSO big business. Nevermind that this kid's final hospital bill was over $250,000.00.

I'd rather pay into a co-operative fund that pays for preventative free clinics that are healthcare "triage" spots that can either help you with a small problem or get you to a specialist for a bigger problem...where you can negotiate your payment for that bigger service. And that doesn't exclude the option for a primary care provider like a family doctor if you can afford one. I'm just saying that there are hardly any decent options for poorer people. It's almost like the "system" wants them dead. That is evil.

So...where are all these Republican "pro-lifers" in congress? The boy that died, Deamonte, must not have rated somehow...poor people that can't afford healthcare never seem to rate. And more people are becoming poor from health issues than ever before.

We are an evil nation if we do not fix our medical care problems; if we as voters and insurance premium payers and taxpayers don't DEMAND a better healthcare system, we will end up paying in the long run, perhaps with our lives and savings. I know that many conservatives simply hold up the Veteran's Administration hospitals and say, "Look at that! The government can't even care for their own!" That may be true, but at least it's care on some level, as opposed to no care at all.

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