Healthcare UNFAIR!

[undergroundpanther]

People without health insurance have bad teeth because, if you're paying for everything out of your own pocket, going to the dentist for a checkup seems like a luxury. It isn't, of course. The loss of teeth makes eating fresh fruits and vegetables difficult, and a diet heavy in soft, processed foods exacerbates more serious health problems, like diabetes. The pain of tooth decay leads many people to use alcohol as a salve. And those struggling to get ahead in the job market quickly find that the unsightliness of bad teeth, and the self-consciousness that results, can become a major barrier. If your teeth are bad, you're not going to get a job as a receptionist, say, or a cashier. You're going to be put in the back somewhere, far from the public eye. What Loretta, Gina, and Daniel understand, the two authors tell us, is that bad teeth have come to be seen as a marker of "poor parenting, low educational achievement and slow or faulty intellectual development."
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Do you think that people whose genes predispose them to depression or cancer, or whose poverty complicates asthma or diabetes, or who get hit by a drunk driver, or who have to keep their mouths closed because their teeth are rotting ought to bear a greater share of the costs of their health care than those of us who are lucky enough to escape such misfortunes?

http://www.malcolmgladwell.com/2005/2005_08_29_a_hazard.html

Market-driven health care is part of a pattern of government and corporate policy initiatives over the last several decades which have one thing in common: they strengthen corporate power over people by lowering people's expectations in life, and by reducing their economic, social, and emotional security.

http://www.math.missouri.edu/~rich/MGM/corp_agenda.txt
FUCK THE FORTUNATE!
Eat the Rich.

[lvx35]

1. So true...

My friends mom just died of cancer and my friend was running around this horrible corporate labyrinth trying to get insurance companies to pay for things and doctors for whom it wasn't profitable...She watched her mother die knowing that large parts of the spread of cancer could have been prevented if they had insurance approval for certain diagnostic proceedures earlier, so it could have been nipped in the bud. All for greed.

[rwenos]

2. It's Blood Money

The only solution is Single Payer, but there are corporate pig interests which will fight it tooth and nail. I keep wondering where the outrage is hiding -- don't people realize these corporate f*cks are killing them?

"Eat the rich." I like it. I thought I was the only one who said that.

[SoCalDem]

3. I saw a documentary once, that claimed that Native Americans'

tooth loss was often the cause of thier deaths at early ages.. Since they could not chew the tough stringy meats they ate, their health suffered, and they often died from malnourishment..

Poor people with bad teeth are often "passed" on when it comes to getting a job too..

[fasttense]

4. The fact that our society allows people to make billions off the suffering

of other people is despicable. Doctors make millions, insurance companies make billions and hospitals make ten of billions. Our nation's health care is a disgrace. Nationalized health care is the only way to keep the sick and suffering from being taken advantage of.

[midnight]

5. My response to this statement is you are right.....

In America healthcare is for profit, not for maintaing or enhancing health. That is why it is so unfair.

[alarimer]

6. I hae never understood why dental care is not a part of most

health care plans. Why is it separate? It should be treated as a specialty like the eye doctor or something. I'm lucky; I have a dental plan. Actually it is a dental discount plan,not an actual insurance plan so I end up paying about half for fillings (which is all I ever need). So it could potentially be very expensive if I did not have regular checkups. Fortunately I have good teeth and have taken care of them for years. Both my parents lost theirs at an early age (in their 40s) so I don't want that to happen to me. Fortunately I can pay for what care I need. But dental care is one of those things that can be very expensive if you don't keep up with it. And it affects everything else.