Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Bad News List


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Posted by Doc on May 14, 2003 at 21:49:04:

In Reply to: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Bad News List posted by Mary Ann on May 14, 2003 at 19:56:18:

I don't have any problems with my insurance company. We can certainly discuss ethics. Most doctors get into medicine to help people, not because of greed. Most physicians I know are quite ethical. A healthy competitive market assures the best services for the best price. Of course HMO's throw wrenches in the process, and doctors, patients, and the public in general have let the backwardness you describe go on. It's not perfect, I'll grant you, but government dictating who can and can not receive care (or what kind) is not something the constitution allows. Ask a Canadian or a Mexican how wonderful their socialist health care is. They will tell you about apathetic doctors and poor doctor/nurse training. They will tell you how the government dictates what care they receive. There is no other recourse with the government. The buck stops there. At least most American doctors care for their patients and try to do their best. At least you have a process of redress with most HMO's, and you can get different or additional insurance. I know not all people can afford that. I can't either, but I find a way. It's a priority for me. So is term life insurance, even though I could really use the extra fifty bucks every month. The government does not need , nor is it allowed, to control everything. Don't get me wrong, if someone needs help, that's fine. Before society became so liberal over the last forty years, people got help through their church, civic groups, and other charities. Times may have changed, but government is still not the answer. My income should be redistributed to whom I choose, not whom the government chooses. This country was not designed to spend our money where we don't want. I am glad to give someone a helping hand, but not a handout. There's a difference. That thinking is not unethical, it's American. We should all use our brains, not our hearts to do our critical thinking. Maybe common sense has indeed left the country. I do agree that greed has caused a great deal of problems(some of which have no easy solution), but healthy competition has given us all the wonderful inventions, technology, etc. that we enjoy. Healthy competition is the American way and has helped make America the greatest country on Earth (if you like freedom, of course). Don't worry, I don't take offense from your comments, and I hope you don't take offense from mine. In fact, my family could probably qualify for welfare and benefit from everybody else's money, however, I am perfectly capable of providing what my family needs, and I will not take a handout. I will blaze my own trail. I did not want to live paycheck to paycheck, but that's how it worked out. As the years have gone by, I've worked harder and harder, and things have slowly gotten better. I'm beginning to think the light at the end of the tunnel isn't a train after all. I didn't have to take someone else's money to survive and improve my lot in life. Call it pride if you like, I'll call it doing your best with what you have. If you work hard enough, you can meet your goals, despite all obstacles. We all (rich/poor, black/white, man/woman) have the freedom to do just that. That is the American way. I wish orchestra management would do the best with what they had and use common sense. Maybe the problems we see might not be so severe, although that could be an oversimplification on my part.
Doc (who has never had enough money to learn how to love it)


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