Warning: Rant!

I do not like this man. I cannot put my finger on it, and in our day of prejudices and stereotypes, I have been very careful to make sure it is not for an impure reason. I am all for a minority to be in the White House. I think our country may need it. We have to move forward and grow, and the next step is someone other than a white male moving into the White House. Yay for progress and diversity!

But this man? He is too slick, too polished. He gives rousing and heartfelt speeches and has the ability to say all of the things the American people are wanting to hear. But where is the evidence backing of all of these la-ti-da plans for change? Who is going to pay for all of the programs he is wanting to institute? Middle class people. Me! I am going to pay for it.

Well here is what I have to say about it: People, if you cannot get health insurance, go out and find a job that provides it to you. If your skiils/ education level do not allow this, then change them. It sucks out there, and I had to do what my family needed me to do. We were poor. We had no way to move up. I sucked it up and took 24 credit hours per semester while helping my husband through school, raising a kid and running a household in order to get a job and credentials that would ensure my ability to have the things I need, and to provide my son and husband with the things they need.

We live in the United States. There are so many programs and resources to pay for vocational training or higher education that you can literally get paid to go to school. So suck it up and do it. If for some reason, you are disabled and cannot work or obtain the education to better yourself, than taxpayers like me will be glad to continue to foot the bill for your medical needs to be met. We have been for years. If for some reason you lost your job, as I did recently, we will continue to provide you with federal programs to get food. But to completely reform the government to provide handouts is unnecessary. I say give people a hand up and the tools they need to provide for themselves down the road. We do not need to create more sponges.

And medicine? Yep, we medical people are sheer evil. We want nothing more than to take your money. We will let you die if you don't have the coverage. No, WRONG! I am on the code team at work. I make decisions in the blink of an eye how I am going to help a patient in crisis. The patient is not wearing a gown with "Uninsured" stenciled across the chest. And honestly the only time I have ever looked at a patient's insurance information is to provide them with the best care. For example, the patient has insurance x and needs a test, and insurance x requires a specific diagnosis or criteria to pay for the test, and the patient does not meet the requirements...the test is thousands of dollars. What would you do? Well patients have the right to refuse or accept any procedure. So you let the patient know "Hey, you need this test for x reason, but your insurance will not cover it. Do you still want the test?" It is a courtesy, not a refusal to treat. Other than that, I do not give two shits about my patient's insurance information.

So are we now gonna talk about the costs of healthcare? Pharmaceuticals take a fortune to develop. So, yes, they are expensive. Healthcare professionals themselves are expensive. Look at me, for example. I had to attend college, to the tune of thousands of dollars. I had to take credentialing exams to the tune of thousands of dollars. I have to obtain licensure in every state in which I touch a patient. That is expensive. I have to attend classes and maintain competencies in my field each year. That is not only expensive, but time consuming. So while I would love to do my job for free, I have a family to support, and it takes time and effort to maintain my legal ability to do my job. So I do not come at minimum wage. They have to pay me to compensate for that. Now consider that my hospital employs over 50,000 people, most of which have some sort of credential associated with their name. Do that math. Then consider the equipment they need to allow us to do our jobs. The stethoscope I use to listen to your breath sounds was $300. The ventilator I run costs more than most houses. And we run several of them at a time, so do that math. Then think of all of the little things we use, and all of the disposable equipment we have to use in the name of sanitation. And the upkeep on the high ticket items. And this is just my department of the hospital. So I guess my point is that healthcare is expensive. There is no way to avoid that. We cannot just go revamping the healthcare system in an effort to change that. It will not work unless we all want to live in poverty to absorb the cost of a publicly-run healthcare system. Because someone is going to have to pay for it. And besides, do you really want a disgruntled governement employee to determine if your child gets the surgery he or she needs? I don't.