Time To Euthanize Grandpa

I predicted two months ago that by the end of Obama's term there will be more Americans without health insurance than there are today.

Nothing over the last few weeks has swayed my thinking. Nothing.

I love hearing our beloved Republicans focus on "long lines in Canada" and "she died before she could be seen" in Germany or how "grandparents in Denmark are euthanized even though they aren't sick"...but you know...there isn't any one of these nations that are currently engaged in exasperating talks regarding their system...not one of these nations hunkered down in all-nighter last minute debates before recess trying to shoehorn in legislation to change their system. They ain't perfect but they don't need to reform them either.

Health care reform is equivalent to smart grid reform -- all you need to know about why health care reform is doomed is to consider this: Today we spend north of 15% GDP, while in 10 years it's gonna be 20%. If we were to keep those costs under or below 15%, then a few very powerful health care and pharmaceutical corporations stand to lose over $1 trillion annually. Won't happen in my America.

The smart grid isn't about lowering your electric bill; it never has been. It's only about positioning electricity providers and a handful of vested interests in a more powerful position at your expense. There isn't one, not one, of my colleagues who think differently and while that should be a strong indictment, it's falling on deaf ears. However...there ain't no discussion about electric reform in Congress and there never will be. You're gonna pay more for your smart grid and you won't have any choice in the matter and you're going to do it with a smile on your face.

Sick people are big business, and big business runs the nation. Agribusiness on the front end profits from fattening feeding Americans cheap corn syrup, subsidized pork and soybean oil while Big Pharma and the insurance industry profits on the back end when you're obese and suffering from myriad diseases of the affluent. Investor owned utilites owe their shareholders and soon-to-be smart grid management corporations a growing share of your electricity payments.

You would think that us Merikans could simply pick a Western European or Canadian program and that would be that. Instead, single-payer is off the table. In my opinion this would have carried true reform but we won't get it. We'll get a parallel public option that will become the dumping grounds for all private insurers who deem you too risky. The costs of managing this public option will become so fucking high that we'll have to cut back on all those promises of "free quality health care for all," which puts us right back to what we have today...while ignoring not addressing ad infinitum double digit premium increases.

I'll tell you this -- my family and I take far, far more off insurance than I or my employer pay through our premiums. I'm going to conservatively guess that we will have sucked a good $22,000 more than my premium this year alone and this will be likely be repeated for the next thirty five years, and every year going forward it's gonna be 6% more. There are a million other families doin' the same thing and there will be millions more in the future. This is your money (you being the healthy ones) funneled off to allow my doctor and his HMO representative to run with the bulls in Pamplona every summer.

Because I have health insurance...I thank you. Thank you for subsidizing my chronic diabetic care, care that will rise to $60,000 per year by 2019, even though I'm otherwise healthy and fit. And that we aren't going to provide for any meaningful reform on health care costs, I will thank you today for the half million dollars you'll give me tomorrow. I hope you'll pay it with a smile on your face, too, because you'll have no choice.