Posted by
Cuda on Saturday, August 15, 2009 7:17:41 AM
I'm not one who gives much thought to my disability. It is what it is. I don't wear it on my sleeve or ask for preferred treatment. I have a condition I was born with called Spina Bifida, affecting certain neuro-muscular portions of my body. Spina Bifida isn't who I am, but it is a part of me. When I was in college, the disability advocates said I could have extended times to take tests, and I flatly refused, for I didn't need them. I won't let my disability give me an advantage over others, however, I won't let it be a disadvantage either. This brings me to the issue at hand; healthcare reform.
Any American should feel absolutely terrified of this plan, allowing the government to make decisions on your healthcare and determining what treatments are more cost effective than others. The fear is if two people come down with the same disease, let's say cancer for instance, and one is disabled while the other one is not, the non-disabled person should be focussed on because he or she is a more "productive" member of society. Why waste money on the disabled person, who has already been a drain on society? That's the logic behind it. It would be more cost effective to council the disabled person on options of ending his or her life, Kevorkian style. After all, an intravenous solution of fatal chemical blends is far less expensive than surgeries and recovery.
I take offense to being labeled as a less productive, less valuable member of society. I'm not a particular fan on resting on my laurels, but if I must prove my point, then let it be shown I'm a gainfully employed insurance adjuster (who's quite happy with his current healthcare plan, thank you), I've graduated a community college and university with three degrees, making dean's and trustee's lists, I've been inducted into Phi Alpha Theta historical fellowship for academic achievements, and I've published two science fiction novels. Just because my spine didn't want to cooperate with the rest of me during my nine month stint in my mother's womb should not be the sole reason I'm denied potentially life saving treatments.
I'm quite happy with my current medical coverage the way it stands. I don't need Uncle Sam getting between myself and my doctor. If healthcare reform is truly the priority of the Obama administration, let me suggest they limit lawsuits and forbid frivolous malpractice cases, which have ballooned the cost of care into astronomical proportions. There are ways to make the greatest health care system in the world greater, but allowing the government to control them is not one of those ways.
We will not go quietly into the night. We will not say the likes of Stephen Hawking, Ray Charles, Christopher Reeves, Hugo Weaving, Ron Santo, and Michael J. Fox are unproductive members of society. We will not let a government for the people, by the people, and of the people will determine which people get to live, and which ones should just crawl into a corner and die. This is America, a country where our servicemen and women have fought and died to protect the very liberties being snatched away from us, not by a foreign empire thirsty for conquest, but of an out of control government hell bent on making the people subservient to their whims, victims to their needs.