Health Care in America

Our fine country of the United States of America is known as the Land of Plenty or the Land of Opportunity.  People from all over the planet have been coming to this country as a refuge from what ever they may have been suffering from, whether it's extreme poverty, political asylum, slavery, oppression, caste system, etc.  We even have Lady Liberty in the harbor of the most used port, historically, in New York to accept those who are in need of some sort of a new start, what ever it is from a personal or other stand point.  On the base of the Statue of Liberty, is the welcoming poem greeting those who come here from the Old Country:

Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses, yearning to breath free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore,
Send these, the homeless, tempest tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door.

Author: Emma Lazarus

This is an inspirational poem, giving hope to immigrants and American citizens alike.  But there is an interesting thing going here.  With every nationality or ethnic group coming to this country, the new comers are usually welcomed with a cold shoulder.  Italians were called Wops, because they were stamped WOP, meaning With-Out Passport, but it became a somewhat derogatory term.  Other peoples were welcomed in similar ways, though many could go to those already acclimated to this country of their same background, to be able to become accustomed to our country.

Today, it seems as if non-European Hispanics, particularly Mexicans, are the target group.  Many of them don't speak English, and it seems to take a while to learn, and we have all sorts of services that translate into Spanish for those who need it.  The current technologies make it easier for many to come in and be able to get what ever it is, explained to them in their own languages, particularly, Spanish.  And if they don't speak English, it seems as if they are deemed illegal, which may or may not be true.  While some of this is to be expected, because the newest kids on the block are the ones who usually get picked one, some of it goes a lot further than a cold shoulder to the Mexican people.

Our conservative friends say that illegals are taking up all of the jobs that belong to Americans, creating a new type of poverty in this country, jacking up all of the cost of unemployment, welfare, and other things, and it ends up on the working tax payers' tab.  Many say that these "illegal aliens" are receiving general aid, such as food stamps, medicaid, and what not, and they're not happy about it.  Because of fraud, not just by immigrants, but by all of those who work to defraud their system that deep cuts would kick the fraudsters off of the system.

Our liberal friends say that "undocumented immigrants" do the jobs that no American wants to take, and that there is very little fraud, and that they help the economy by taking substandard wages to make it affordable for the rest of us.  Of course because fraud is at a minimum, that just tweaking the system would help minimize fraud from anyone.

Thing is, I think that the truth is probably somewhere in the middle.  We all like to celebrate our multicultural roots.  In the bigger cities especially, but even in very middle America, we have ethnic restaurants and food stores, and some of that even permeates into regular grocers.  Lets face it, we love our ethnic foods, whether it's Italian, Mexican, Chinese, etc...  Even sushi is catching on as the rage.  So, why would we want to discriminate against those who make some of our favorite foods?

Anyway, yes, there ARE those who work to fraud the system.  That goes for citizens as well as legal residents as well as immigrants.  Just to let people know, to get welfare, you have to have a legal ID, proof of residency, and you have to have legal to receive anything.  Yes, some of the immigrants, do work under certain documents, some are legal SSN or EIN and yes, those are documents, thus can't be said they're undocumented.  Others are actual dummies accounts, so while yes, they pay into the system, they can't collect because the account doesn't belong to them.  But, someone who is undocumented or illegal is not eligible to get food stamps or medicaid.  Those are for citizens and certain legal residents.

I've digressed...  Anyway, the Affordable Care Act is here to get more people covered under health insurance.  Right now, poor people, even Americans, don't get preventative care, and so many don't get in for anything until too late, so many don't get to get coverage until they're probably going to die or get amputated before actually getting the services, rather than before.  And yes, the rest of us are paying for it.  Your insurance premiums are higher to help pay the doctor or hospital.  Your deductible is based on it as well.  So are the prices you pay at the office.  These are being charged at rates which will include those who need to come into the ER.  The ACA is trying to reduce the prices by giving the access to help prevent disease, rather than paying more later.  An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

Here in Wisconsin our governor decided not to accept the federal funds to expand medicaid, so, while many are currently getting kicked off of Badger Care for being above the poverty line to get onto the health care exchange, after it gets to that point, will start giving single adults as well as couples without minor children will be able to get onto the state insurance if they are below the poverty line.  Here in Wisconsin, that won't be until at least April 1, 2014.  

While I agree that we do need to take care of our people, it seems as if we are in some kind of turbulent cycle until everything gets straightened out.  I admit, because our family income is far below the poverty line for a family of 3, that yes, we are on the medicaid system.  Since the implementation of the ACA, in combination of not expand medicaid, there are certain things that are not available to me because of it.  While I am taking steps to get educated so that I can be in a better position later, it's not easy to get the medical care I need for myself and my son because the same amount of money is covering more.  Kind of like sharing the wealth and the risk.  Those of us lucky enough to be low risk won't miss anything.  Those of us with high risk end up losing out, because we are on medicaid rather than regular insurance.  Hopefully, I will still be able to afford my care when I go full time at a regular job.  This is one of the drawbacks of deep cuts, and also because of any fraud issues.

I am hopeful that it will eventually straighten its self right.  What I don't understand, though, is it seems our conservative friends agree with Governor Walker about mandating auto insurance because it saves money, yet is against the health care because it costs money to save lives.  Our liberal friends seem to look at it the opposite way.  Just remember, it takes money to make money, and same goes for saving....  You can't save w/o money.  It takes money to save.  So, while we are struggling now, I have to hang out the hope that I can get the treatment needed once I start my new position in the health care field as a patient care coordinator.  As a diabetic in the care of an endocrinologist, along with some genetic issues, it's no easy or cheep task to keep up on my health.