It's Not About Insurance

I cannot begin to tell you how freaking sick I am of hearing about health care. I am over it. The politicians in Washington have no idea what they're doing and have their own self-centered and power hungry reasons for wanting whatever bill they've constructed to go through. All they're going to end up doing if the thing passes is causing more taxpayers to foot the bill at a higher price. And it's highly unlikely that the higher price will accomplish anything. Unfortunately, it's almost impossible to know because the bill has swelled, at last count, to over 1,900 pages. There is absolutely no way that any given Senator or member of Congress can know precisely what is on every single one of those 1,900+ pages. None. (Granted, I wouldn't trust half of them to know what was in the thing if it were only 19 pages, but with 1,900 I know they don't know what's in there.)

And before you start shooting me emails or leaving me comments saying that things like it must be easy for me to say those things because I obviously have insurance, pipe down. I don't have insurance because I'm uninsurable. I got extremely sick about 10 years ago and damn near died. (I had awesome insurance at the time, but gave that up when I left that particular job.) Since then, whenever I've attempted to get insurance again, time after time I am denied because they dub me to be high risk. Now, my sickness was something that anyone could get, regardless of any particular lifestyle trait or quality, and that over 200,000 people every year come down with. But the fact that over half of those folks die within 48 hours is what makes me "high risk".

The insurance companies can suck it. Would I like those aspects of health care in this country to change so that those with pre-existing conditions or those with past conditions can easily get insurance to access health care? Sure I would. Do I want it done in via this particular health care bill passing? Hell no. In the meantime, I'll just do what I've always done and take care of myself rather than sit around and wait for the government to offer me something to take care of me. I suggest that everyone else do the same.

But my point (surprisingly) wasn't to come here and rant about being uninsurable. My point was to rail on media publications that try to exploit any sort of death out there that they think could possibly be related to someone not having health care. Today's media abomination of exploiting the dead for political gain comes to us courtesy of People.

Apparently, on Tuesday, a one 37-year old Jennifer Lyon died of breast cancer. Until reading about her passing, I had no clue as to who she was. I'm pretty sure I'd never heard the name before in my life. She was a contestant on the 2005 season of Survivor: Palau. (I wasn't real sure that I had ever heard of Palau in my life either, but then realized that it is a tiny little island that is about 500 miles east of the Philippines. Actually, I didn't realize that, but tomato, tom-ah-to. Whatever.)

And while it's unfortunate that Ms. Lyon passed away at such a young age, here's the angle that People magazine felt the need to include in their article. "It all began in the summer of 2004, when she "felt something in my right breast that didn't feel normal," Lyon told PEOPLE in October 2005. "I thought it was probably scar tissue related to my breast implants. It was right along the ridge of the implant, so I let it go, and I let it go for a long time."

See, now I'm thinking after reading that passage that they're going to go with the angle of how important it is to always get these things checked out. Yeah, not so much. Instead they went with: "Asked why she delayed seeing a doctor, Lyon said, "I didn't have insurance, which is a big part of it. And it really wasn't changing much. But a year later, I felt another lump, and then I felt something under my armpit."

Soooo....if the not having insurance was a big part of it, what was the other part? Um, People? Hello? Oh, that didn't get asked. I see. OK, how about this question: When you had your implants, did you have insurance? Oh, what? Oh, riiiight! Right. Implants would be cosmetic and insurance wouldn't necessarily cover them. Huh. Sooooo....you went to a doctor then, right? So, why didn't you go this time? Oh, that's right. People didn't ask that question either. And when you finally went to the doctor because, after a year you felt another lump and something under your armpit, did you have insurance then? Hard to say because People did go there either. Thanks for the craptastic article there, People. Gee, I wonder what you wanted the angle on this story to be?

Let me take a guess as to what happened her. Again, it has nothing to do with the no insurance thing. According to Wikipedia (take it for what's it's worth, I realize that), for the particular season of Survivor that Ms. Lyon was a contestant on, "Applications were due on June 22, 2004. Around 800 applicants were selected for an interview between the latter part of July and August 2004...48 were chosen as semi-finalists...during September 2004. From these...20 were chosen to participate (on) the show between October to December 2004." I think that her desire to be on Survivor was a huge factor in her putting off seeing a doctor. I have absolutely nothing but speculation to base that assumption on, but it seems fairly reasonable, given as how she had proven in the past that she had no problem seeing a doctor when she wanted something to be taken care of, ie breast implants.

Look, I'm not trying to malign the deceased, all right? My condolences go out to her friends and family. But the other thing that goes out to her friends and family is the utmost hope that this doesn't get turned into something that is about having or not having insurance because it doesn't sound like it is. If this is going to get turned into anything at all (and I pray to God that is isn't) it needs to be on the importance of getting checked regularly and to not put off seeing a doctor when you find some abnormality on your body. No one knows your body better than you do. If you find something that isn't right, go find out why it isn't right.

Lately, so many people are obsessed with being on TV for no other reason than just being on TV. There are a gazillion reality shows out there for people to choose from so that they can claim their fame by being seen as whatever it is that they're portraying themselves as by (unfortunately) millions of viewers. I watch these morons that cannot sing a lick try out for American Idol. They act as if their life will be over if they do not make it on that show. There are things that are more important than reality TV. Priorities people. Priorities.

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Check, Please! OctoMom's Hospital Bill

I'm still attempting to not overload on Nadya Suleman, aka the OctoMom, posts, lest: a) My head explode, b) I explode, c) All nine of you who read this explode, or d) All of the above. But I was perusing TMZ and shamelessly, without permission, nor malice, borrowed the photo below because it's just too damn funny to pass up. The story behind the photo? While (thank God) OctoMom has turned down a $1 million offer to do porn, somehow she feels it is more "ethical" or "acceptable" or something to make that $1 million by selling the video of the Mocktuplets being born instead. Behold! A very funny picture depicting that very scenario!

I have a really hard time looking at that photo of her pregnant (without a For Sale sign impaled in it) without cringing and reeling back in horror. But looking at it this way, I still cringe and reel back in horror, only I'm laughing as I shield my face, screaming, "My eyes! My EYES!!"

I understand she needs to make money off of someone besides the California taxpayers. And as a California taxpayer, I'm all for that idea. I wholeheartedly stand behind anyone but me paying for her kids! Which brings me to the issue of the hospital bill. I understand that Kaiser has applied for Medi-Cal to pay for this debacle. (Kaiser, by the way, knew she did not have insurance but took her on as a patient anyway because, I'm assuming, they felt the publicity would be great. And I'm assuming that they knew that they could ask Medi-Cal to cover it. I'm not OK with that simply because Kaiser is a member-based HMO. She wasn't a member. They knew that. They took her on anyway. How is it my responsibility to pay for it? They knew what they were getting into, so they should suck it for the bill.)

According to the LA Times (who has been doing a fabulous job on this story) "2007 records show that Southern California hospitals received an average of $1,198 per day, per patient" when billing Medi-Cal for reimbursement. Take the2007 estimate of $1,198, realize that it is most likely a low estimate, and then multiply it by (sweet Jesus) eight and you'll end up with $9,584 per day. The Mocktuplets were born on January 26. I'm writing this on March 6. That's 40 days. That's $383,360 so far. Add on top of that the $150,000 that just the delivery is rumored to have cost (they had 46 doctors and nurses there for that freak show) and we're at over half a million dollars. Oh, and don't forget that SHE was in the hospital for at least two months before the gate was opened and children came spilling out. At a very reasonable 60 days and using the same reimbursement figures as above, that's another $71,880. Now we're at a whopping $605,240. I DON'T WANT TO PAY FOR THAT! (Sorry. Didn't mean to holler.)

If she ends up selling that tape to....who? Who is going to buy that? Who would want that? A clown college?? So that they can use it as training footage for clowns coming out of a Volkswagen?? Who would buy that?! (And why do they keep saying "tape"? Was it really "taped" on a "tape"? Not digitally recorded? Taped? Like on Beta?)

All sanity issues of any potential purchaser aside however, I'm going to have a huge problem with her getting to walk from the entire bill. And I'm not saying she should turn it all over to the hospital or use it all to reimburse the state. I'm saying she needs to start taking some sort of responsibility for something in her life! Ten percent. Am I out of line by saying that she should fork over ten percent of the hospital bill? I don't think I am. After all, she was quoted as saying, "My goal is to not be a burden on any taxpayers." Fabulous. Start with your OctoBill.

Wow. I thought I was just posting an amusing picture and then letting it be. Apparently, I've worked up a full lather of ire over this situation and it's not going away any time soon. By the way, mainstream media? You guys are pathetic. When I read stories about the :::gag:::: birthing tape up for sale, I keep reading that the hospital, despite the "historic nature" of the birth(s), did not videotape it (what's up with that, Kaiser?) and they don't know who did.

They don't know who did? You don't know who did? What is wrong with you folks? OctoMom said herself who taped it!! She said in an interview with Mirror.co.uk “I had no family with me at the birth. Only my friend Amira Smith. She videotaped it." There you go! Amira Smith! Amira Smith! Nice job, crappy media. Your research skills are impeccable. Haven't you guys figured out yet that you cannot believe anything that comes out of that chick's mouth? Everything that she says? Verify it. You'll find that 50% of what she says is utter crap.

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