OPINION
Ted Richards
Staff Reporter
The state of the health care system in this country is abysmal. In the U.S.A, we have a corporate-run for-profit health care system. At its very core, this creates a fundamental problem: it costs money to pay for the care of a sick or injured human, and corporations generally only exist in order to make profits.
This system creates a conflict of interest at every single decision point. It produces a profit motive to deny people proper care, medication or procedures. It contributes to an environment in which a patient may be left wondering, “Is this in my best interest as a patient or is this in the best interest of the profit margins of the hospital or insurance company?” What an absolutely horrible thought to have, when your potential life, long-term health or quality of life is on the line.
We have an entire industry that literally all they do is take our money and then deny us care, and they make BILLIONS of dollars a year. Thousands of people die every year just due to not being able to afford insulin. There is something fundamentally sick with this system.
This is in NO way an attack on the doctors, nurses, EMTs and countless other human workers that actually do the difficult physical, mental, and emotional daily work of providing care.
The working conditions in hospitals, ERs and clinics across the country are deplorable. Wages have been suppressed through the typical corporate methods such as union busting, noncompetition clauses in work contracts and monopolization for decades.
All these problems were present before the global pandemic. COVID has only exacerbated these existing issues. The No. 1 reason for personal bankruptcy in this country is medical bills.
How can you call it freedom if you’re only “free” to be in debt and sick?
Leave a Reply