Wednesday chat

Re: Wednesday chat

• professorscience member

  

  February 2012

  Today is pretty strange.  Teaching-wise I'm feeling reenergized and excited to be at work.  The kids are enjoying themselves, I'm enjoying working with them, everything is great.  I'm swamped with grading, so I finally gave in and decided to let a former student help me grade some projects.  It'll definitely help me to get through them quicker and get them back to the kiddos.
  
  Losing someone in our family who is so close in age to H and I is definitely a new thing.  He is really not even sure what to think, and I currently hate my decision to stay in Dallas and finish the school year instead of moving with him in December more than I ever have.  I just wish I could have been there with him last night when he got the call.

  

  
  

  
  

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• lalaith50 member

  

  February 2012

  Prof- I just read and was thinking about your H's post from yesterday, especially the last part, about health insurance companies should have the right to decide what services to offer.

  I totally agree with that, but I think that is going to be problematic for many people. (obviously.) One thing that I have a HUGE problem with, is people who have a mentality of everything is a "right," and fail to recognize that every single thing that the government "hands out" isn't actually free... everyone else will have to pay for it eventually. The people who want the extra services of contraception and stuff won't be ok with having more expensive insurance. (of course, what it will come down to.) They fail to realize that things like HBC do cost money...they think that it should be spread among everyone. (sorry-- I hope I don't sound like I'm arguing with your H's logic! I'm more just thinking through my own thoughts, and how even having nationalized health care to begin with is going to allow people to feed into this idea/mentality that everything related to health-care is a RIGHT, and they think they will never have to pay for it, and don't see or don't care how everyone else will.)

  Someone made the analogy of contact lenses. I like that. But I think most people agree that contact lenses are NOT "essential," but many many people do think that HBC is essential. :-(

  (and therein lies the problem. My FB argument/discussion from yesterday allowed me to see into that a bit more. This one girl I know from hs who is well-intentioned, just thinks that everyone should have a right to choose to marry, not marry, have children, adopt, not have children, etc, and that all of these things are not only rights, but "rights" to the point that they shouldn't have to pay for them!)

  sorry, I'm getting rambly... I'll stop now. ;-)

  

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• Riss91 member

  

  February 2012

  There was a comment on a related article yesterday that I thought was interesting. Someone made the remark that everyone has the "right" to reproductive healthcare.
  
  First, let me just say - BAHAHAHA - because BCP, sterilization, abortion is CARING for REPRODUCTIVE health? Seems like something that HELPS reproductive health wouldn't result in the LACK of REPRODUCTION. pft.
  
  But - there was an interesting response to this comment:
  “I'd like for all future births that I have to be paid for too. If you're going to make everyone pay for the prevention for those who don't want children, let's make everyone pay for those who DO. After all, if childbearing and birth is such a horrific thing then I am doing quite a self sacrificing thing to bring children into the world and need the free health coverage too. Also, we need to pay for all services for those who are infertile, as their health really is an issue. They, by definition, are not healthy. Why is it considered "improved public health" to prevent a perfectly functioning system from working properly but not pay for it's function when you WANT it to work properly?
  

  Not so black and white when the table is turned around.”

   

  I thought that was a great point.
  

  
  

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• professorscience member

  

  February 2012

  Wow, Riss, that is a great point.
  
  Lala, I actually read a really interesting article the other day about a Canadian olympic skier who died in the US.  She was covered by Canada's universal health plan, but she suffered a terrible injury in the US, was on life support for about a week in Utah, and then died.  Her family didn't have insurance, so they ended up with a hospital bill of over $300,000 or something.  Fans ended up donating enough money to pay for it, but it was a really odd occurrence in the universal/not universal health care bill.
  
  Many people used that incident to argue that, had there been universal healthcare in the US, her treatment would not have been a burden on her family.  But on the other hand, if she'd had her own private insurance, then there still would not have been a financial burden. 
  
  Also, you are pretty spot-on.  The guy who was providing the most dissent countered with "Healthcare is required, it should cover all services.

  

  
  

  
  

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• Resa77

  

  February 2012

  I like that, Riss!  My sister has spent so much money on infertility -- from testing to medications to surgeries.  Why is THAT not covered, yet sterilization is?  Seems unfair, if you ask me. 
  
  This culture of entitlement is getting worse and worse.  Every want is seen as a need , and every need is seen as a right. 

   

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• TeaForMe member

  

  February 2012

  One thing I hate is that artificial birth control pretty much = "reproductive health" for women. Heck, even just "women's healthcare"  in general has an almost automatc connotation of ABC. And so, obviously, if you are anti-contraception, you are anti-women's health. Yup, I hate women.  Forget about actual healthcare needs for women, like PAP smears, and, um, hello, pregnancy, labor and delivery. I heard someone on the bump who ended up with a $20,000 bill after delivery. $20,000... not covered by insurance. I'd have to sell the kid back to the hospital for that price. Yowza. I'm not saying it should necessarily be free, but ridiculous that someone would have to pay that much for a basic need. And, again, the sick fact that contraception is covered but infertility testing/treatment, etc. is not. Exactly what kind of culture is that promoting?? yikes.

  
  
  

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• newlyseliski member

  

  February 2012

  Kinda wish my NFP classes had been covered by insurance... but noooooo.  Of course they cover contraceptives... hypocrites.  One would think, financially speaking, that a woman who practices NFP is far less of a financial burden than a woman who takes HBC daily... After the initial investment of instructional classes or books, NFP is cost-free and far cheaper for the insurance company in the long run, I would think. 
  
  On another note... can't wait till work is done so I can finally get to Theology on Tap!  A good drink is in order...

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• lalaith50 member

  

  February 2012

  That was probably a rhetorical question...but it's promoting the same kind of culture that it comes from: one which believes that the world (even the western world) is way overpopulated, and it would probably just be a good thing if the human species were to die out.

  

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