A little something from 60 Minutes for those who think that America's hideously flawed health care system isn't in the shitter
If you're one of those people who doesn't think it's ridiculous that the United States is the only country left in the industrialized world that doesn't provide universal health care to its citizens, I defy you to watch this piece from last night's 60 Minutes and still be able to look yourself in the eye and believe that lie.
Here you have people who had health insurance through their employers, then became so unfortunate as to contract cancer, then became too sick to work and lost their health insurance when they had no income to pay for COBRA coverage, and are now being turned away at charity hospitals by the cash-strapped state of Nevada for the chemo and radiation treatments they need to survive. In essence they're being left to die on the streets...
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There is one bright spot to this piece though and it's Dr. Nick Spiritos, a man with a heart too big to allow his patients to die without a fight, a man who is spending his own money to purchase the drugs they need to care for them. A big tip of the cap to Dr. Nick, a modern day saint in my opinion. If you watch this and feel compelled to make a donation to the cause he's leading in Nevada, here is the address of his clinic...
Dr. Nick Spiritos/Women's Cancer Center Foundation
3131 La Canada, Suite 110
Las Vegas, NV 89169
6 comments:
Yes, we in this country can do a lot better than donation jars at the corner 7-11 store, which is what passes for universal health care for catastrophic illness in the U.S.
This story horrified me, especially the part where the woman had her hospital bed and wheelchair repossessed because she couldn't pay. Can you imagine being THAT repo man? "Sorry lady, we're just going to dump you here on the couch. Have a nice day."
And in Las Vegas, of all places. You can bet that the casino owners aren't having to cut any corners or go without medical care. This is a travesty of Biblical proportion.
Thank you for including the address to this clinic. I'll be posting them a check tomorrow.
Yes, the Almighty Dollar wins out again over the best interests of ordinary Americans. You can bet Congress is is no hurry to change the health care system because they and their families will NEVER have to go without care. They realize that if they alienate the drug companies and doctors by changing to a single-payer, government sponsored system, they won't get those fat campaign donations any more.
C'mon, Cajun Boy, we *all* know only stupid, lazy people ever need help in life. If you're affected by a global economic crisis, you must not have been smart or hardworking enough! Why should we subsidize these people with their "cancer" and their "layoffs?" Whatever happened to personal responsibility for controlling all of human existence!
But you know every cloud has a silver lining and in this case that silver lining is that chemo and radiation are painful, sickening, debilitating and almost entirely worthless. You pay hundreds of thousands of dollars and die like a dog.
It would be great if people woke up and said no to chemo and radiation, and started pursuing the many, many promising and quite cheap alternatives.
The travesty isn't that people can't get chemo, it's that chemo costs thousands of dollars per bag of chemicals. We can't reform healthcare by giving everyone access to THAT. We need to reform health care to keep people healthy!
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