The Public Option

Insurance seems a lot like legalized extortion. The insurers take your money,ostensibly to protect you in the event of an accident, and use the money as they see fit in the meantime. And much of this insurance is required by law. Take auto insurance. In New Jersey, we have to carry liability coverage. If you finance a vehicle, you have to carry comprehensive coverage. And you have a deductible, also, so little things aren't even worth trying to get insurance to cover. Or, if you do have an accident and your insurance company has to pay something, they then drop you as a customer. So, the lawmakers require that you buy insurance, then the insurance company basically says "fuck you" when they have to hold up their end of the bargain. Give us your money so we can invest it and make money off of it, but don't expect much in return. Warren Buffett thinks it's the greatest thing going. He gets to play with the money that policyholders pay in premiums.
Now, you don't have to have health insurance, but you're really disadvantaged if you don't. And those jerk-offs don't want to pay for anything. And mental-health issues aren't even treated like problems. How did this get so out of hand in the first place? I mean, medical care is basically unaffordable if you don't have insurance to cover the outrageous cost of treatment. Why is it so expensive?
I've been trying to understand the Obama administration's health-care proposals. The public option, from what I can gather, is a government-run insurance plan. Some of these proposals require people to have insurance. Why is it all about the insurance? Why can't the government set up hospitals that are well-run and free? Pay the doctors. Take some of that war money and use it to furnish medicine and other health services. Why are people so scared of this? Good doctors, good hospitals and free. Or go to your own fucking doctor. Whatever. Or, if the public option is a government-run insurance plan, what is the problem with that? No doubt there are people who would say that I don't have a clue. But those people are probably the ones who have a vested interest in maintaining the system such as it is. I don't understand it all, but is there something wrong with the basic premise that we should take care of more people? I guess, if you're going to make less money, there's something wrong with it.
I know, the government has to pay for this. But it seems to come up with money for all manner of other programs. And, really, if we ever get out of Iraq, won't that make a lot of money available? Goldman fucking Sachs should have to set up a free hospital, since it got money from the government and now makes billions by creating very little of value. General Motors, if it ever gets its shit together, should have to establish a hospital. And when you go to these hospitals, you can actually get someone to pay attention. You could fucking die during the time it takes them to get your insurance straightened out if you go to a hospital now.
As part of these proposals, plastic surgery should be restricted to people who have disfiguration from an accident or a birth defect or something like that. If these doctors are talented enough to perform these operations, they shouldn't be for vanity's sake. They never seem to work out well, anyway. Look at Michael Jackson and Joan Rivers and all these other synthetic motherfuckers.
There would be people who abuse the system. Overdosing drug addicts, pregnant teens, etc. I don't have a solution for that. You take the good with the bad. But making an attempt to provide affordable health care for everybody seems like s step in the right direction. Sitting Bull, the Sioux Indian (yeah, yeah, Native American), was appalled by the destitute people he encountered when he visited American cities, according to the historian Robert Utley. Indians would never allow their own to be homeless and hungry, and both Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse were known for their charity. These are people who stole and scalped as a way of life, yet Sitting Bull gave money to beggars on the streets of Washington.
The system is a monstrous morass, and drug companies and medical-equipment manufacturers help escalate costs. Drug makers, in particular, will talk about how much it costs them to develop medications. Bottom line, though, is that they're trying to make money, so they maneuver in an effort to prevent generic competition from reaching the market. Drug companies have paid off generics manufacturers to prevent the generic version from reaching the market. Better that they make more money than people have access to less expensive medication. It's depressing, but I hear there's a drug for that, if you can afford it.