Un-Liberaled Woman

I’ve followed my friend Trying To Grok’s experiences in the military, government-run healthcare system for some time now.  While I’m not saying this is every experience of every military spouse out there, it is clear that there are huge problems with government-run programs.

I have been surprised at how many people were shocked that I shared an ultrasound room. Is it because it’s a military hospital? I’ve never tried to have a baby anywhere else. But there’s always been more than one person in the room when I’ve been there for an ultrasound, just never someone so loud and obnoxious.

But like I need any convincing on the failure of govt-run programs, I’m an avid watcher who compares my 401k vs. “my” Social Security accounts. But for those that need a good dose of reality, I ask you – if you were expecting a child, and had the choice of sharing an ultrasound room or getting a private one which would you choose? I have no doubt you’d prefer privacy for a test so sensitive to you and your child’s health. But now, what if you remove choice from the situation. What if you had no choice and were forced to share a room due to rationing of space because hospitals could no longer afford to have private ultrasound rooms since big, bad government came along and took away those evil things called profits (dun, dun, dunnnnnnnnnnnnnn!).

I heard someone the other day literally cheer on Obama about how he was going to fix healthcare because he was going to take away profits. Good F#$%@#$%^#$%@ing night, morons! Hate to break the news but profits are not minions of the Devil (Capitalism is the Deeeeeeeeevil!). No, profits are what make us have 21st-century care in the 21st-fucking-century. Take away profits and guess what, you’re not only now decades behind in even sub-standard techniques, but also not able to create any innovation that betters our well being and lives.

Ah, but don’t we all just feel better knowing we’re doing what’s “good” for the collective?  Say it with me -  Marx! Marx! He’s our man! If he can’t do it, no one can!

I digress. Anyactinglikealiberalarguingwithtangents, here’s one account (and really not even the most horrifying – click the link above to read the entire story):

I was supposed to get a phone consultation with the doctor and a prescription filled.  I called at 10 AM and left a message.  I called at noon and left another message on a different machine.  An hour later, I got a call back from one nurse, saying she’d follow up and make sure my prescription got filled.  At 2 PM, I called the advice nurse and asked if she knew what was going on.  At 3:30, the advice nurse goes home.  At 4:20, no one is answering the phones in reception any more.  At 4:30, you can no longer leave messages on voicemail.  I called the pharmacy: no prescription had been called in.  And now it was the weekend.  My mother said, “You mean NO ONE is available to help you on the weekend?”

My mother was freaking out.  “This is how things work for you?  You haven’t talked to a human being all day long, just answering machines!”  But for me, this was totally normal.  I never talk to human beings when I call the hospital.  I don’t even know how to call a human being, save the advice nurse.  In fact, that’s why I called her in the afternoon, just because she’s the only human being I know how to reach!  My mom was shocked that someone, anyone!, didn’t call me during the day to let me know what was going on.

My husband called from Iraq at 5:15 PM to see how things were going.  Five minutes later, the doctor beeped in.  I had to hang up with my husband from Iraq to talk to the doctor!  If that doesn’t suck, I don’t know what does.

Can you imagine that – your husband is defending the Constitution of this country and working to keep peace in this world and our freaking government doesn’t have the decency to be effective for its own citizens who sacrifice the most for this country. If this is how our government treats those who they supposedly “support” the most, what does that say for the rest of us? Shudders.