I usually steer clear of political discussions but some days I do feel compelled to weigh in.
This morning as I was driving in to work I was listening to an interview with Republican Dick Armey and I began to feel very insulted. He is opposed to a government run healthcare. He discussed how ridiculous it was to mandate that health care be offered to people with pre-existing conditions. His quote was "why should the government force a health plan to cover someone with liver disease because they drink or someone who got diabetes because they eat like a pig?" I couldn't believe the insinuation that health concerns are always the fault of the individual. What about the childhood diabetic? What about people like me? What did I do to deserve my diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis?
As one of those people with a pre-existing condition, continuous health care coverage is very important to me. There was a time where I did not have employer sponsored health care and neither did my husband. We paid $1700 per month for our family's health care. When I did finally get employer sponsored care our premiums went down to $550 per month. However, that new plan was refusing to pay for my routine MRI. They also refused to allow me to go to the lab that I usually go to and where all my records were. Instead, I had to go somewhere new where the radiologist's comments indicated that he could not comment on the progression of the MS because he did not have any comparison scans. Had I been allowed to go to my regular radiologist my 5 previous scans would have been on file for comparison.
I was in a position where I could pay the exorbitant premiums at the time. There are many families that are not so lucky. Had I been forced to let my insurance lapse, future health care plans could have refused to cover anything related to my MS. This has potentially devastating financial consequences.
I find the current health care reform debate very angering. The debate is focusing on political control and grandstanding and not on the American people who truly NEED a reform of the current system. I personally get very angry when I hear members of congress discuss not wanting government run healthcare. All members of congress have access to cheap, excellent, well-run, government health-care. Why should they be so quick to prevent the rest of us from have access to the same quality of health-care that they enjoy?
In this great country, children should not be dying because they can't afford to go to the dentist and poor people should not be dying on the floor of the hospital because they are uninsured.
The time for reform is now!
Dr. Stacey-Ann Baugh
Long & Foster Real Estate
www.staceybaugh.com
staceyannbaugh@gmail.com
240-481-3565 (C)
301-924-1100 (O)
FINALLY! A DOCTOR WHO MAKES HOUSE-CALLS!