Accepting Responsibility For One's Own Health, Good or Bad.

Who Is Really Responsible For Health Care For Americans?
Written by Linda R. Hedden
Copyright lin-hed productions
Original written Jan. 22, 2008


The issue of health care in America is one of major concern, and has been debated by politicians and average citizens for decades. The majority of Americans seem to agree that something must be done, but thus far there has been little progress toward resolving this problem. In the current presidential campaign, health care coverage for all Americans is a major focal point. Better back up: Health care for all uninsured, American or not. And that I do not agree with, but anyway....

Having been faced with both sides of this argument by way of interaction with family members and friends, and my personal circumstances also, makes me familiar with - not an expert on - a few versions of health care in America.

My personal health coverage is through my former employer, a perk I was able to retain when I left the company. That does not mean no out-of-pocket monies for me. What it does mean is that what was a "free" benefit, as stated in a signed legal document by my former employer, now several years later has a monthly premium attached, my co-pay has doubled, and the co-pay on my prescriptions has tripled in just a little over ten years. Yes, I am very blessed and thankful to have this health insurance, which includes vision and dental as well as prescriptions, and the payment is about one-third the cost of anything I could obtain individually. So am I complaining? Not at all. I bring this up merely as an example of how big companies are renigging on their promises to employees who gave their all to help get them where they are. Should they not be held accountable for something?

On the other hand, my elderly mother lives on a small Social Security check. Her health insurance is provided through Medicare and Medicade, and comes with a cost 'tho small in comparison to what many pay privately. This she pays out of her SS check - and the amount she pays per month is more than what I pay for my insurance premium! My mother lived the early years of her life in a society where the majority of women didnot work outside the home. My father worked as a laborer for a local contractor. There were no health insurance packages attached to their jobs. So after my father's death, Mother draws on Dad's Social Security and relies on the federal and state governments to provide health care. Together they raised nine children, not once taking food stamps or any other commodities. When I left home after graduation at age 17, I began working for a company at a whopping $63.00 per week! My father had four children still at home at the time..And his salary was less than mine!! Where was he to get money for health insurance?

We were lucky to have been raised in the country, without pollution, without preservatives. The air we breathed was pure, as was the water we drank. Our fruits, vegetables and what little meat we had was not filled with toxins, steroids, or hyberdized, or full of preservatives, salt and iron. In case you aren't aware, there are many people who do not need all that extra iron the government seems to think we do. Many of my family members have an excess of iron, a genetic disease which can, and has, killed. Growing up I can remember just about every case of one of us being sick or hurt, and can count those times on less than all fingers. The very few times anyone went to the doctor the fees were paid out of pocket. Is there a corelation to a healthier lifestyle such as we had, and a greater necessity for medical care in today's society? You'll never convince me there isn't.

My brother, who is a veteran, receives his medical care from the VA, as no insurance packages were available to him. Like so many others, a private policy was cost prohibitive. Another family member who has minor children has no health insurance either. When someone in his family gets sick or injured, it constitutes a trip to the emergency room. Who pays for that? Both adults in that family are smokers, thus the minor children have indirectly become smokers by way of second-hand smoke. And here is where individual responsibility comes in.

It is a known fact that smokers have more health issues than non-smokers. It is also a known fact that over-weight people have more health issues, and I'm certain were I to investigate further I would find any number of scenarios to support the theory that lifestyle can induce health changes, many to the good but many necessitating frequent doctor or hospital visits.

A few months back a sister and I accompanied my brother in his weakened state to the VA hopital for a check-up, which by the way, is necessary periodically due to the excess of iron in his body. The number of patients, family members and/or friends that were outside smoking was astounding! A friend of mine whose husband smokes suffers from light asthma, probably because she has breathed the second-hand smoke. Her husband is a very heavy chain smoker, and spent a lengthy time in the hospital on the brink of death a few years ago, due heavily in part to his smoking. During said time he was not smoking, but all the while refusing his doctor's suggestion of "a patch", etc. Upon release from the hospital he of course resumed the habit.

Only quite recently my mother was hospitalized as a result of a fall. During one of numerous trips to visit with her, while passing by the ER check-in and other waiting areas, my younger sister and I observed that the majority of people were very noticeably overweight. In puzzling through this, we concluded that these people were very probably in the low income bracket, and used the ERs as their primary care givers. This then lead us to believe that through previous observances, and current as well, many in the lower income bracket are over weight. Why is that the case, or are we way off base in our line of thinking? Could it be that everyone needs to be educated in the power of maintaining good health?

Now we all surely understand that health insurance companies work alot like auto and home insurance companies. Have an accident or get a ticket and watch your insurance premiums jump. It doesn't matter that you have many years on their safe-driver program. Was your home, your main residence, blown away in a tropical storm? If that has happened to you, then you can probably relate horror stories about trying to collect on that! Later you find out your insurance company is dropping you as a high risk!! Like you have control over the weather? What is fair about that? The governments have to pick up some of the slack, but never-the-less, premiums are going to rise. Of course I have personal opinions about people who have multiple homes for tax write-off purposes, and the government (MY tax money) stepping in to assist in rebuilding, but that is not what I am writing about, so let me get back on track.

I'm here to tell you, health insurance companies are not really much different than the afore-mentioned auto and home insurance carriers. They certainly are not lowering their premiums. In reality the more trips to the doctor or to the emergency room, mainly for those without insurance and/or policy holders who do little or nothing to maintain good health, the higher everyone's premiums will be. Folks, that means you and me! It's going to come out of our pockets. In addition, only recently has it been heard that hospitals will begin to require payment upfront when one is going to be having treatment. Why? Because there are too many people not paying their bills! Yet a hospital recently dismissed an illegal alien, this only after he spent weeks in the hospital at someone else's expense. You get to guess whose. Supposedly he also suffered from amnesia. Yea, right. When are insurance companies going to start giving a break to us who don't smoke, who maintain at least some semblance of good health, who are not obese, who are drug free, and use alchohol only moderately?

Now the thought of greedy insurance companies controlling coverage for all of us is a nightmare in itself. But whose responsibility is it anyway? Should we not all - meaning individuals, insurance companies, businesses, and our government - be held responsible? Should not we as individuals strive to stay healthier through taking better care of ourselves, by eating healthier diets, getting proper rest and exercise, drinking in moderation, throw away the cigarettes? I was a smoker for ten years but went cold turkey over thirty years ago. Why? Because I was sick:I woke with a smoker's hangover every day;I was nauseated;I was way too thin, and very irritable. Luckily for me I recognized the fact that cigarettes were the cause.

The following is information released by the CDC:

Every Pack of Cigarettes Sold Costs Nation $7 [04/18-2]
Excerpts from: Study Shows Every Pack of Cigarettes Sold in US, Cost the Nation $7
Health & Medicine [04/12/02]
Source CDC

A new study says every pack of cigarettes sold in the United States costs the country more than seven dollars in expenses.
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC)announced Friday that medical costs and lost productivity from cigarettes cost more than $150 billion in 1998. Previous estimates said the cost was less than $100 billion.
Among adults, most deaths between 1995 and 1999 were from heart disease and lung-related diseases.
The report says the average cost of cigarettes is just under three dollars a pack.
The CDC suggests state and local communities do more to control the use of tobacco.

End of report.

But should the state and local communities be responsible? My answer is every adult individual should be held responsible for his or her own health - and that of their children.

On another note, I ask:Should not big and small businesses be held responsible for pollutants in our air and water? Should auto companies not be held responsible for manufacturing autos that emit less pollutants and use a more ecological fuel?
Should our government not be held responsible for levying heavy fines on any of these businesses who do not meet standard? And I mean carrying through with the enforcement of laws that are in place, as well as adopting new ones as needed.
Should drug companies and insurance companies not be held responsible for their price gouging? Should the politicians we elect not be held responsible for their greed in bowing to lobbyists by way of underhanded agreements with drug companies and more? Should not individuals be held responsible for their own health care expenses if they do not practice preventive measures, such as giving up smoking, diet,et al?

Yes, you'll probably ask "Who is going to be the health patrol"? Maybe the answer is a simple one, and that answer is all of us who are sick and tired (no pun intended) of paying out of our pocket for irresponsibility! Maybe it is time we as a whole lobbied our government, our insurance companies, the companies who add preservatives to our food...Maybe we should take responsibility, and contact our elected officials, the auto makers, the drug companies with our concerns. You know, I feel that the voice of one person that is heard goes much further than the voice of thousands that remain silent.