American Conditions?

Yesterday I talked with my Dad on the phone and he told me how people in Germany now have to pay a 20 Euro co-pay when they go to see a doctor. It used to be free, then it was 10 Euro, now it is 20 Euro. I said, "Dad, if I could see a doctor and pay only $20 I'd be happy. I have a physical exam scheduled next week and it will cost me about $200, if not more." To which he replied, "Well, yes, but we don't have American conditions here yet."

He said "American conditions" with an air as if he was talking about some really poor, left-behind, third world country. And rightly so - when it comes to Health Care, America is truly 'left behind'. Sure, you can get cutting edge care - but only if you have the cash to pay for it. My mom, living in Accra, Ghana, has more affordable and accesible Health Care there than I do here in the United States. And that's a third world country!!

Sadly, things seem to be changing for the worse in Germany too. Private Insurers there also are gaining on both power and greed. I can only hope for the benefit of the German people that they will never succumb to "American conditions" as far as Health Care is concerned.

As Florida Congressman Alan Grayson so boldly stated two months ago - the current status quo comes down to:

1. don't get sick

2. and if you do get sick, die quickly.

That's it - short and simple, and unfortunately true. That's how things are here in America! As Rep. Grayson was asked to deliver an apology to the Republicans, he instead delivered an apology to the 44,789 Americans who - according to a Havard Study on "Health Insurance and Mortality in Adults" - die every year because they don't have Health Insurance and cannot afford medical treatment. I have to say, cudos to this man! Finally a politician with courage. We definitely need more of those.

Here is the videolink if you want to watch it:

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/9/30/788209/-Rep.-Alan-Grayson-apologizes-(just-not-to-the-Republicans)

In the meanwhile, I am extremely pleased to see that Health Care Reform did make it past the first round of voting in Congress - including a public option! Now it remains to be seen where this is taken in the Senate. While I keep my fingers crossed (and I would be one of the first to join a public option if it comes to be), it almost seems too good to be true. It would be truly revolutionary for America, and would indicate a fundamental shift in values, to indeed implement a form of government-run Health Care. I really hope for it, yet I remain cautious. There is an enormous amount of fear and resistance in many parts of society, even though statistics suggest that the great majority of Americans would prefer a single payer system. As difficult to understand this resistance is for a European, it seems to have to do with a fundamental American image of being independent, self-sufficient, and free of a government "intruding" on individual lives, a deeply ingrained self-understanding that goes back to the days of the pioneers. To many in the right wing end of the political spectrum, having the government 'dictate' a form of universal health care is equivalent with the end of the "American Way of Life". It is strange though to see how there is such paranoia about something as simple as a government implemented public option, and how little protest there was about dubious things such as the Iraq war or the Patriot Act.

Here's an excerpt of an excellent article by Brad Reed that sheds some light on this social paradox:

"Nearly a century of relentless propaganda has convinced Americans that our health care system is actually the best system in the world (it isn't) and that all national health care systems are bankrupting their countries (they pay less for health care than we do). Part of this is also embedded into our cultural DNA: Americans wrongly believe that we have the world's best health care system because we like thinking of ourselves as the best at everything.
And to be fair, we Americans have a lot to be proud of: in addition to prevailing in two world wars and the Cold War, America has brought the world the cotton gin, the electric telegraph, the electric light bulb, the airplane, the moon landing, the Internet, jazz, rock 'n' roll, hip hop and all the world's biggest blockbuster films.
But our health care system is not Miles Davis, Raiders of the Lost Ark or the Chevy Corvette C3. Our health care system is Kevin Federline, Waterworld and the AMC Gremlin. Our ability to spend 16 percent of our gross domestic product on health care and still leave tens of millions of people uncovered is not something the rest of the world looks upon with a mix of envy and awe. Rather, it's something that makes them crinkle their eyebrows and say, "Dude. For real?"
But if reformers ever hope to change our basket-case health care system, they will have to repeat these simple truths over and over again to our fellow Americans until they realize that they're getting ripped off.
For, unless we collectively realize the breadth and depth of our current health care disaster, we will never be able to fundamentally change it for the better. It's going to be a long haul."

See the whole article at: http://www.truthout.org/100109F?n.

This is in many ways a fascinating time to live in America. If Health Care Reform is implemented, no matter how many shortcomings the initial bill might have, it would be a huge step into the right direction and it would indicate a fundamental shift in American values.