How Healthcare Has Affected Me

Many years ago, doctors were not the money hungry slugs that they are now. I remember hearing stories about giving a bushel of peas as payment for antibiotics to get rid of an infection or a pig given to the doctor to pay for the birth of a child. Nowadays, if you don't have cold hard cash, you don't get treatment.

Everyone in my immediate family has been adversely affected by our current healthcare system. My husband is sitting in the living room with 5 broken and dying teeth in his mouth. Oh sure, we have insurance, but that doesn't mean care. It is going to cost us $600 or more to get his dental work done. We don't have that kind of money right now. My sister went to a butcher doctor and has scars on her knee about a foot long from a routine surgery that shouldn't have taken place. My father, a heart patient, can't afford his medicine because his employer dropped their insurance coverage due to rising costs. I have a blood clot in my leg that has been there for 2 years because I can't afford my deductible and coinsurance payments. And unless you have upfront money, you are out of luck.

I took a trip to the grocery store the other day, and I saw a new medical office had opened up in the strip mall. Now, what this says to me is that healthcare is now a commodity, and for the right amount of money, you can afford to live. This may be a large leap, but think about those with money and those without. The people with money can afford to go to the doctor or dentist anytime they need something. Poor folks have to rely on old home remedies and putting off routine check ups because they may or may not have insurance. Yet another thing separating the have and have nots.