Dept. of Humanitarianism

[tim]

I am *so* *fucking* *tired* of what passes for health care debate that assumes the problem is any or all of:
1. rich people (i.e. people like you, the person reading this, and me, the person posting this on a taxpayer-sponsored computer) have to pay too much for health care
2. rich people spend too much on health care
3. other organizations spend too much on health care on behalf of rich people
4. rich people sometimes spend 3 months not having health care when they change jobs

The problem actually is:
5. poor people die of asthma attacks because they can't afford preventive care,

you idiots.

And no, (5) is not a direct consequence of (1) through (4), because the problem isn't that the pie isn't big enough for everybody, or that some people are bigger eaters than others; the problem is that most people find it convenient to throw extra pie in the trash rather than giving it to people who don't have any.

Comments

[adularia]

I for one would be delighted to share my pie with those who don't have any (shut up, Beavis) but that is because I am what the industry refers to as a "consumer", or perhaps a "commie pinko socialist."

[tim]

To stretch this painfully distended analogy even further, part of the problem is that even if most of us were theoretically willing to give up some of our pie, the cafeteria monitors would stop us from giving it to someone else who doesn't have any. So individuals giving up some pie won't fix the problem.

[rjmccall.livejournal.com]

To probe your painfully distended analogy, I'd like to point out that you can, in fact, pay other people's health care bills. The proper analogy here (and I believe I've stated this in unloaded terms) would be cafeteria monitors trying to ensure that everyone gets a slice of pie if they want it.

Also, I know you like hyperbole, but even people who are primarily focused on poverty issues should care about #4. Being unable to switch jobs out of fear of a coverage lapse is a major problem for a lot of people under or near the poverty line.

[tim]

People under or near the poverty line generally have employers who are doing everything possible not to provide them with health care (working three "part-time" jobs is pretty typical; employers know how to hire part-timers for just few enough hours not to have to provide insurance). So really, people who already have health insurance are pretty low on my priority list.

[luinied]

There are still some poor people out there who've managed to hold on to a job with health insurance. And, from what I've seen, this does make switching jobs a pretty scary prospect, not just because of coverage lapses but because they know that they're lucky and that they probably won't be able to get any coverage at all if they leave their current job. (Of course, if it's a time like now, plenty of them end up losing those jobs and having to adapt to life without insurance anyway.)