Seriously people. Stop with the gimme, gimme, gimme.
Healthcare - how did healthcare become a "right"?
I am sitting here typing with a possibly broken left wrist. I did that yesterday when my dog ran under my feet and I tripped and fell. Did I go to the emergency room? No. Have I seen a doctor? No. Oh my god! I might die! Bull! I iced my wrist the first 24 hours - minimal swelling. I put on a $25 brace from Walgreens to immobilize the injured wrist and $0.50 of aspirin to reduce pain and inflammation. I have no fever so no infection (not an open wound). I have no numbness in the fingers - no vascular compromise. We'll see how it does over the weekend. Meanwhile I still put in a 12 hour work day today.
Under the healthcare reform bill, I should have run to the emergency room and insisted on $2,000+ of emergency care (emergency hospital care, orthopedic specialist, X-ray, radiologist analysis, pain killers, nursing care, etc., and all of the hospital overhead). It is my "right".
I pay roughly $2,500 per year for health insurance from my company. As an Army retiree I have paid up lifetime healthcare insurance (to age 65 when Medicare kicks in) as a benefit of serving my country. Why didn't I use these existing benefits? Because I am self reliant. Something most Americans refuse to do today.
What has happened to "the rugged individualists" that made our country great? Why do we now seem to focus on government to provide our every need? Why can't we assume responsibility for ourselves? All rhetorical, my dear readers.
I hate pop culture references. Still, listen to Michael Jackson's "Man in the Mirror". Want to make a change? Look in the mirror. Make the change in yourself. Become self reliant. If you want the government to provide your every need - you are a slave to the government. Bow before the alter of Washington, D.C.