If the government gives money then it can pull the strings. We've seen it in the education system where they can withhold funds until a school does things their way, regardless of how the local community feels about it.
When Nationalized Health Care starts up it's going to be the same. Why should politicians give up that power? If you are over a certain age or over a certain weight or have something that has a low recovery rate (or high cost) then you'll be S.O.L. when it comes to getting medical treatment. If you have doubts simply look to the U.K. or our lovely northern neighbors.
It also means that if they think you need to be taking heart or cholesterol medications then you had best listen to them if you want to get covereage (or possibly coverage for their families) even if you would rather live with the "condition" rather than the side effects. I had thought they they would probably do annual drug screenings but now there's something even better! ROBOPILL!, a device that will monitor you to make sure you've taken your medicine and notify authorities if you don't.
This hits home because I've been turned down for premium insurance rates due to having high cholesterol. Heart disease does not run in my family and though I have a desk job I'm not exactly a regular at Dunkin' Donuts. So I researched cholesterol and found it's pretty much a farce. The original studies (early 1900s) were based on rabbits, noticing that if they fed these HERBIVORES lots of meat then their choesterol went up. Later, when the margarine industry started taking off, there were margerine company funded studies that showed how butter increased choesterol more than margarine, thus making this margarine "healthier." Now these studies are never questioned because they are so established that everyone knows it's fact. But please, don't think about that. Instead take this pill (paid for by your insurance company) and disregard the side effects and they can almost guarantee that you will have less of a chance of heart attack than if you didn't. Pretty much sure on that one. Yep.
Okay... I'd better put my tinfoil hat back on and get back to work.
I hear ya.
ReplyDeleteAnd I'm totally with you on the cholesterol thing. I'm 25, I work out daily and run 15-20 miles a week, and I eat a pretty healthy diet. And yet I have elevated cholesterol. Frankly, if I'm confident my lifestyle is heart-healthy, I can't see why I should worry about cholesterol, since it's clearly at the level my body was meant to maintain.