The wonders of American healthcare

[fpb]

http://www.lifehealthpro.com/2011/11/07/tragic-tale#.Tr9pD3MebCt.facebook
As it happens, this is the very same kind of accident my brother had. Thanks to that terrible, loathsome, socialistic "socialized medicine" that we cowardly weak-minded souls have in Italy, his physical situation is far better than Mr. Mantlo's, and his mental situation is beyond comparison - he is the active and effective leader of a nationwide disabled movement. Right now, I am in the mood to cause serious disability to anyone who has the nerve to say anything for the American health care system - just so you can taste it in its full glory.

I never even liked Bill Mantlo as a writer. But that has nothing to do with treating a human being like this, just because you don't have the nerve to shoot him like a horse with a broken leg - which is obviously what everyone is aching to do.

Comments

[sabethea.livejournal.com]

As a member of an equally weak-minded 'socialised medicine' country, I am with you all the way. My health care probably isn't as good as that of the Extremely Extremely Rich in the US; however, it's a damn sight better than most people in that country get, and I'm inexpressibly grateful for it. I think it hugely unlikely I'd be in paid employment if I lived in America.

[elegant-bonfire.livejournal.com]

It's more the insurance business than the medical business that sucks here. Trust me, pretty much every branch of insurance is equally shitbaggy.

Insurance

[eliskimo.livejournal.com]

Yes, that's it. I wish I could effectively communicate that to certain of my American friends and relations. I hate having a certain "conservative fundraiser" among my acquaintances go on about how "Obamacare" is such a bad thing because it will limit choices, while blithely ignoring that that is exactly how Kaiser-Permanente and the like already operate.

Re: Insurance

[fpb.livejournal.com]

The same charmers who have been working for years trying to get the British governments to let them manage pieces of our NHS.

[wyrdwood.livejournal.com]

I read this article a few days ago and I'm still simmering in fury about it. How many comics creators have to suffer because of our stinginess? I'm fed up.

[fpb.livejournal.com]

I am still thinking of Dave Cockrum, who was partly responsible for creating characters (the character designs of the X-Men, in particular) worth billions, having to beg in public at the end of his life. That is how a man who worked and made things and left behind more than he found is treated.

Don't Dis- My Healthcare

[rfachir.livejournal.com]

People set up what they wanted. The problem is people want to be taken care of "for free" and it is a rare person who will do that work. The government=the people in these parts. People are giddy, and often selfish creatures. We are a pain to take care of, and like to insist we don't need any help.

Re: Don't Dis- My Healthcare

[fpb.livejournal.com]

I don't want to argue over this with you. Do, however, bear in mind that I can compare what happened to Mr.Mantlo - whom I knew, if not personally, at least as a member of the comics profession - and what happened to my brother.

Maybe I need to be a nurse

[rfachir.livejournal.com]

Your brother is a fighter from a family of fighters. I see injury as the only thing these men have in common. I need to believe that caregivers do their best no matter who pays or how much. (When I get to your neighborhood we'll argue insurance, social contracts, health care delivery, economics and foreign policy over a pot of tea and a box of chocolate chip cookies.)

[finnkveldulfr.livejournal.com]

Well, speaking as someone from and in the United States of America...
Our healthcare "system" absolutely, utterly sucks. I hear our politicians and all sorts of other people talk about how we're one of the most advanced nations and best countries to live in on earth...
and I think it's an absolute disgrace that for all our capabilities, we can't manage to make sure that ALL of our people have decent basic medical care, that isn't going to either drive them completely broke or simply be denied to them if they ever are unfortunate enough to have a real health crisis. And yet we have the American Fascist Party ('scuse me, I meant the Republican Party) who appear to believe that health care is only for the rich, and those of us who haven't managed to steal enough money as corporate hacks and cheats should be content to find a hole to go die in if we ever get sick and can't work anymore.

This is one of those areas where my country (the USA) is not the worst in the whole world (after all, there are a lot of underdeveloped and/or war-torn nations out there) but we are among the worst in the 'Western world'.

[fpb.livejournal.com]

Heh. Considering the rage this made me feel, I can't say that you were excessive. But do avoid certain adjectives unless necessary, will you? As you know from debates elsewhere, I know a thing or two about the Fascist Party, and however nasty people like Hermann "if you're unemployed it's your own fault" Cain can be, they don't even come close.