Wednesday, June 17, 2009

The Letter

Yes. This.

Glenn Beck - Current Events & Politics - Glenn Beck: The Letter

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10 comments:

share the experience said...

Thanks for the link - good stuff to think about regardless of your political affiliation.

dr. whoo? said...

Please know that I have no plans to "go political" on this blog. I got this link from a friend.

Truly, this letter, though from the Glenn Beck website, is written from the heart, by an *American.*

Please know that I really don't endorse *any* political party ...I just thought this letter deserved to be read.

No worries, we will soon be back to your regularly scheduled medical ranting...

Carrie Ann said...

Thanks for posting the link. I heard the first part of the letter on Glenn Beck's show today and then got sidetracked by a telephone call.

Anonymous said...

Don't worry about posting a political thingy here...it was definitely not partisan...

Would love your take though on health care reform. I think it's a scary thing to mess with it all in such quick fashion. I do see the possibility of more home birth and home health being considered with this new health care...or the opposite, mandating hospital birth at all cost because it's easier to control. Either way, I fear for a loss of options for doctors and patients.

Blessings!
Dawn

MomTFH said...

Wow, linking to anything is the easiest way to get me to unsubscribe to your feed. Bye!

If you are a doctor and think illegal immigration is a bigger problem than the lack of insurance for 30% of our citizens, then I am glad I don't share your priorities.

dr. whoo? said...

Carrie Ann~ No problem! I think it is worth it for as many people to read as possible!

Dawn~ Thank you for your kind words, you are always so nice! I recently wrote a post over on the Mothers in Medicine blog on my views about health care and health care reform. Please also read the comments below. :)

dr. whoo? said...

Mom TFH~

"Wow, linking to anything is the easiest way to get me to unsubscribe to your feed."

Really, linking to *anything* or just something that you don't like? Would you expect the same of your readers? Because I see a whole lot of linking going on from Mom's Tin Foil Hat.

I am sorry that posting a link with which I happen to agree on my blog has cost me your readership, but so it goes. I can't stay silent on how I feel in order to be "popular."

If you had read this letter with a open mind and heart, rather than an emotional knee-jerk reaction, you would have seen that illegal immigration was not prioritized over health care, just listed first in a long line of "issues." The writer of the letter resides in Arizona, and is not a physician, so yes, I imagine that illegal immigration is something with which she deals on a day to day basis, and sits prominently in her mind.

Personally, I don't think that medical *insurance* is a "right." Access to health care, yes. Insurance? No. I'd like to boot the majority of "insurance" all together, as insurance companies and their CEOs are the ones that get rich off of the backs of both patients and physicians. Do not be mistaken, the government isn't as altruistic as they wish to appear...they want in on a piece of the action.

(cont.)

dr. whoo? said...

As for the 30% of people (not necessarily our citizens) who are uninsured, millions tallied in that count are, indeed, illegal immigrants. Should our government, to whom they do not pay taxes, cover their health care for "free?" I don't think so, but they do. Anywhere you go in the United States, you can go to the ER and get (state of the art!) medical care, whether you pay for it or not. Certainly not the best system, but it isn't like people aren't getting care because they can't.

Many of those uninsured *choose* not to carry insurance. They would rather do better things with their money, like buy cigarettes or video games or flat screen tvs. Guess what? That is completely within their rights as Americans! Sometimes they take a gamble and sometimes they lose. And then, there is a smaller percentage of Americans, who simply cannot afford insurance, but cannot qualify for assistance because they actually get off of their asses and work. These are the true tragedies of our medical system, and they are who we should keep in mind whilst making changes.

If you are familiar with the reform bill being considered now, the numbers of uninsured will be cut from 50 million to 37 million, but 29 million people who now have private insurance would be forced to give up private coverage and go with government coverage. Seems like just a little creative shuffling around to me, and to the tune of (conservative estimate) 1.6 trillion (with a T) dollars. Where exactly do you think this money will come from? Would you like to pay a 50% income tax? Because that is where we are heading, like a speeding bullet.

I never said that reform wasn't needed, but I don't think it should be rushed into by this August, either. I also think that we in the trenches should be consulted, truly consulted, not patted on the head and told to just "shut up and do as we say" by politicians who know nothing of medicine. (You could make the same argument of "the man" directing women how to give birth. Think about it.) The academic physicians and the idealogues can rhapsodize all day about what looks good on paper, and socialism always looks better on paper than in practice. The AMA doesn't represent a quarter of the physicians in this country, and they have failed us mightily.

So, why am I rambling to a reader already gone? Not really sure. All I know is that I have to get these thoughts out of my head, as they pound there, louder and louder each night as I try to sleep. This topic is one I have avoided on the blog since I started it, because I don't care what your political affiliations are...really, I don't. What I do care about is when the profession that I love and the American way of life, as I have always known it, is being threatened by the Government...red, blue, or purple....it truly doesn't matter!

So goodbye, MomTFH, I truly wish you well with your studies. I hope that being a physician will be all that it has cracked up to be once you are done training. I have a feeling our profession, as we know it, will be unrecognizable should we continue upon the path we are now taking.

Anonymous said...

amen

Anonymous said...

Great, well worded response. The "health care reform" topic is one that all Americans, regardless of party affiliation, should closely monitor. Too much at stake not to.