Healthcare...and who SHOULD NOT be covered

Okay, right now any news channel I care to watch is going to have something to say about healthcare. Just this morning, on MSNBC's Morning Joe, they were discussing smoking in the military. It was mentioned that smoking kills you. This costs society tons of money, as does obesity. I'm thinking, this is exactly right, and I say, enough!

Smokers get a myriad of health problems...chronic cough, asthma, COPD, heart disease, cancer. If a smoker gets sick, her weakened system will inhibit recovery, leading to more doctor's visits than a nonsmoker, more prescription medications, and costing more money than a nonsmoker. Now, hospitals and government are spending all kinds of money addressing this, taking out ads on tv to get people either to never start smoking or to quit smoking. Programs are available at no cost to the smoker to help her quit...but don't think the programs aren't costing society, because of course one way or another, they are. So, smokers should NOT receive healthcare. They are being reckless with their own health, then daring to expect treatment when they get sick as a direct result of their behavior, and this is simply outrageous. To hell with the smokers!

Obese people simply would not be obese if they all would stop eating so damned much. Overeating to this extreme leads to all kinds of health problems, doctor's visits, hospitalizations, prescription meds to treat the problems...and any healthcare system has to absorb these astronomical expenses. Obese people sometimes wind up unable to work, costing more money to society. If they do work, then because of their weight-related health issues they call off too much, which costs more money. So, obese people, having done this to themselves, should be S.O.L....cut them off, no healthcare for them.

What about anorexics and bolemics? I think this is just as heinous as smoking and obesity. People who don't enough, or eat too much and repeatedly induce vomiting, bring on themselves terrible health problems. They end up in the hospital or treatment centers, costing millions (billions?) of dollars, and it is all their own fault! They also have trouble maintaining employment, costing society even more money. So if you starve or purge, you are to blame...you should not receive one dime of healthcare money. Start eating, and do not puke it up. It's pretty simple, do you actually need someone to tell you this? Puhlease!

Addicts of any kind are an unnecessary burden on society. Again, free treatment programs, advertising costs encouraging these people to seek treatment, and all their health problems cost somebody (not the addict) a hell of a lot of money. An addicts who steal to support their self-indulgent behavior cost the insurance companies even more! So should a doctor or hospital treat an addict, who has done this to herself? Should society pay for treatment? Why are we even discussing this??? Of course we should not pay.

People with STD's cost tons of money, too. They CHOOSE to have sex, something we do not NEED to do...so really, who should have to pay for their treatment? How many millions have been spent already researching sex-related diseases, not to mention the cost of prevention education, and treatment? So if you get an STD, shame on you! All you had to do was either not have sex, or be smart enough to choose a healthy partner with values (one who won't cheat on you, catch something, and give it to you). Do you really think you deserve healthcare benefits for getting yourself into this predicament, one which YOU fully had the power to avoid?

Unsafe drivers, you know who you are! If you actually ARE clueless to how dangerous you are, either to yourself or the unsuspecting motorists unfortunate enough to be sharing the road with you, well there are signs you can look for...how many times are you flipped off during your commute when you tailgate or cut somebody off? Do you hear frequent honking or tires screeching? You are an accident waiting to happen, and who should pay for it? YOU, you idiot, that's who, and NOT your insurance company, not socialized healthcare. Buckle up if you're in a car, wear your helmet if you're on a motorcycle, and obey traffic laws. Do not expect society to pat you on the head, feel sorry for you and foot the bill. If you can't change your ways, get off the road.

Another group of people burdening us all are athletes. So, you think you can engage obsessively in the sport of your choice, which is after all completely optional, put yourself daily at an increased risk for avoidable injuries, AND you want healthcare??? This is absurd! If you have a job outside your self-indulgent hobby, who suffers when you cannot work? Your employer has to pay more money to hire and train a replacement. Too much of this nonsense, and she will be forced to charge more money for whatever service or product she provides. Costs go up for everybody, not just the healthcare issue, and for what? So you can play some stupid game?

This next group of people might be offended...but really, this is about MONEY, so their feelings are irrelevant. Anyone who has a chronic condition/disease which affects less than 10% of the population really needs to suck it up: These people are UNLUCKY. Trust me, I've known lots of unlucky people, and if we go ahead and pay for their treatment this time, they will only go out and get themselves a new medical problem and be back for another handout, and another after that. I say, weed them out right from the get-go. And who's to say these people really are innocent anyway? Sure, in THIS life maybe they did nothing to bring the problem on themselves, but what if in a past life they were not so perfect? Karma, folks!

We're often encouraged to go for annual physicals, those wellness checks where we hopefully find out everything's fine. What about these? People who go for these appointments are going to run up expenses for the visit itself, and all the tests that get ordered. If in fact after all that expense they get a clean bill of health, then obviously all that expense was unnecessary! On the other hand, if some health problem IS identified, well then a lot more expense is going to occur that could've been avoided if it was not discovered...the person could just not go, then drop dead from some problem he did not know he had: This is the most cost-effective approach. I do not support any healthcare program which promotes regular check-ups of any kind.

How many credit cards are you making payments on for a bunch of stuff you could either have lived without, or otherwise saved for a few months or years, then paid for in full? If this sounds familiar, you really cannot expect a healthcare system to pay for any kind of treatment for you. You could have taken your extra money and banked it, then paid for any health problems on your own. Because you indulge yourself, go into debt, and accordingly have no funds for healthcare, you have made your own bed and must sleep in it. Do not ask me or anyone else in this society to cover for you.

Senior citizens...so you're not feeling well? Think you need a doctor? What for??? News flash, you are near death, you are not going to feel so hot...go take a nap.

People who have children...you know full well that there are going to be medical expenses if you have kids: So, ask yourselves, can you afford all that? Will you further burden society? Most people cannot afford their kids and shouldn't have had them. Or, they shouldn't have any more. Their kids will, statistics show, probably wind up in the exact same financial status as their parents, so if you did mess up and have kids, at least teach your kids not to have kids of their own. While you're at it, tell them not to smoke, have an eating disorder, drive carelessly, participate in sports, run up credit debt, have any kind of addiction, visit the doctor for wellness checks, or get old. So just maybe there will be hope for the future.

One last group I'll mention today is a relatively small one: wealthy people. Wealthy people are the worst in many ways, because they absolutely could afford to pay out-of-pocket, but don't. They are insured already. They will go for those expensive physicals, and they're much more likely to go to the doctor for nuisance conditions the rest of us, who cannot afford it, simply live with.

The upside is, there are some people out there who do not burden our healthcare system...instead, they pray. Yes, there are those who will call for a prayer circle to treat all sorts of illnesses rather than see a doctor. If God doesn't cure them, then they know their faith wasn't strong enough. I hope at that point they do not give up and go to the nearest ER...I encourage them to re-examine their beliefs, and pray harder. One group believes that nothing we really think we are experiencing is real...all that truly exists is the Spirit. If things don't appear to be going well, they can simply connect with the Spirit and create a new "reality" for themselves. No pills, check-ups, hospital stays or therapists necessary, right? Presumably, these groups will not have any of the above-mentioned issues, certainly they won't grow old because some non-existent disease will kill them sooner than later. Of course, their burial is another expense we might have to address, but that's another topic.