I’ve listened to our leaders in Washington, D.C., their debates and thier rhetoric, and now I’d like them to listen to mine. I know how much they like sound bites, so here it is — “Show me the money!”
I know they speak passionately about 45 million uninsured Americans, but how much of their own money have they given to organizations that help the people they speak so eloquently about? How can I believe they will help people with my money when they don’t help them with their own? Charity begins at home, not in Washington.
“Show me the money!”
I heard them say they can cut excessive spending on Medicare and Medicaid and help cut overhead so the new health care plans they talk about won’t have any tax hikes to fund them. How about they go after the fraud that is rampant in the system?
I’m a firm believer that finding fraud and assessing fines and mandating jail time are a better deterrent than Medicare accreditation of pharmacies.
How about our leaders cut the spending now, and see how many doctors and hospitals opt out of these programs because they can’t make any profit from our leaders’ fee structure. Free heath care when there is no one to provide it isn’t really free or health care; it’s just talk.
“Show me the money!”
Politicians love to look at the bigger picture and spout out numbers that seem incomprehensible, so can we please look at the real problem of health care in America?
Forty-five million Americans may be without health insurance, but how many of them are really hurt by the lack of health insurance?
How many have died because they were denied treatment? How many of them have lost their car or home to foreclosure because of the cost of health care they received and couldn’t pay for?
Was it more than the people who have lost their job and their income in the “recession” we are in?
How much money would it take to take care of the small percentage of those 45 million uninsured Americans who have run into the health care brick wall?
“Show me the money!”
As a pharmacist, I see many people with health insurance stretching that 30-day supply of medication to between 40 and 45 days. These aren’t the people Washington is even concerned about.
I see far too many seniors in the Medicare “gap” who have stopped taking hundreds of dollars of medication each month because they can’t afford it until next year. Their problem isn’t lack of health insurance; it is the greed of the drug manufacturers and the hidden profits of the pharmacy benefit managers who gut the profit from the system.
“Show me the money!”
Perhaps if our leaders in Washington tracked the money trail, they really could fix American’s health care problems. Maybe they should ask themselves how these big businesses could support health care without pouring so much money into Washington lobbyists and campaign contributions.
If they are making that much money, they may be more of the problem than the solution.
