To all "medical coverage is a privilege" folks:

Nurses Activism

Published

You're presented with a five year-old who probably has appendicitis. The family is poor, does not have medical insurance, and they only have a small amount of money to cover diagnostics and treatment of their child. (Any veterinarians on this forum?)

Because of the OMG free market stuff, you can remove the child's appendix for a minimum of...$5,000. However, this child's family cannot afford that and are not eligible for that much credit.

...what do you do? What if you're presented with ten such cases over the course of a month?

Specializes in Med-Surg, Geriatrics, Wound Care.
I stop being a worry wart about other peoples self inflicted problems, when I look at what Illegal aliens are costing this country, and its citizens. There are citizens who are doing without, from to the higher taxes caused by illegal immigrants.

They do not deserve free healthcare. Period. Stop the freebies and they will self deport.

I'm glad there are people in this country working hard in farms and other labor jobs to make this country a better place. Twas the starving Irish that came here not too long ago and built up our subways, buildings and bridges. (I'm sure they didn't have a lot of money to spend $5-1000 or more getting "legal" immigrant status if they would even have been eligible with no education). Our immigration system is pretty much as screwed up as our insurance, imo. I don't blame a person for trying to build a better life for themselves (or their children). The idea that people think they are better or more deserving of something because of the location that their parents decided to procreate annoys me.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in PICU, NICU, L&D, Public Health, Hospice.
I continue to marvel at the obscene profits that are perfectly okay (Apple, Nike, Microsoft) and those that aren't (insurance, oil companies.)

I don't mind so much...because I am not going to die when I can't afford an ipad (I can't afford one now) or a new pair of tennies, or a new laptop, etc.

People DO die when they cannot afford health insurance, health care, or fuel to heat their homes. Did you know that 40-50 below zero is common in the Alaskan winters?

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in allergy and asthma, urgent care.

Illegal immigrants aside, there are plenty of legal residents and citizens of this country who try to manipulate the system, so they can have all of their wants and needs taken care of, free of charge. To me, that's at least as problematic as the immigration issues, if not more so.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

I must say that this whole thread is an eye opener from a non-US point of view. It makes me appreciate being able to treat my patients without wondering if they can pay their hospital bill. And nurses are supposed to have a reputation as "the caring profession"?

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in PICU, NICU, L&D, Public Health, Hospice.
I must say that this whole thread is an eye opener from a non-US point of view. It makes me appreciate being able to treat my patients without wondering if they can pay their hospital bill. And nurses are supposed to have a reputation as "the caring profession"?

I would venture to say that most of us really don't worry about how they will pay their bill, we just take care of them.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
I would venture to say that most of us really don't worry about how they will pay their bill, we just take care of them.

And I agree. Perhaps I expressed it incorrectly. There were several responses that I find I'm having a hard time even trying to summarize. It is truely mind numbing to try and sort through all the posts about different systems, states, co-pays etc. There seems to be a large "us against them" debate but the idea that some are less deserving bothers me. I really feel health care is a social justice issue and am having a very hard time equating some of what I read here with the caring, compassion and professionalism nurses are supposed to be known for.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Psych , Peds ,Nicu.

In life there often is a difference between our actions and our words , while I agree with silverligh ,t a caring and compassionate nature are pluses for a good nurse and that the professionalism of a nurse should be seen in their ability to treat all patients to the best of there abilities , it should not preclude them from having opinions about healthcare provision and those recieving care .

Sometimes I feel the parents of a drug withdrawing infant should be shot , others times I feel compassion , in that they have sought the solace of drugs to cope with the world , but whatever my feelings towards them are I hope and believe I give the same level of care to all infants .

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in PICU, NICU, L&D, Public Health, Hospice.
And I agree. Perhaps I expressed it incorrectly. There were several responses that I find I'm having a hard time even trying to summarize. It is truely mind numbing to try and sort through all the posts about different systems, states, co-pays etc. There seems to be a large "us against them" debate but the idea that some are less deserving bothers me. I really feel health care is a social justice issue and am having a very hard time equating some of what I read here with the caring, compassion and professionalism nurses are supposed to be known for.

You are quite right, IMO, there is an "us against them" attitude and debate within our political system just now and that is tainting the attitudes toward delivery of health care. There is a growing resentment, in this country, toward people who are contributing very little toward the revenues that the country requires while they are receiving "benefits"...this is, again, primarily political in nature. Sometimes it does not even matter if the care required is life saving...we have had people shout out in public forums that we should "let them die" if they have no health insurance.

There is a growing misconception that "we" (tax paying citizens) pay for the health care of the poor when they have medicaid but not when they are uninsured or under-insured.

There is a growing misconception that if a woman wants her employee health insurance plan to pay for oral contraceptives that it translates somehow into the employer paying for her to have sex, the employer paying for the OCs directly, or the tax payers somehow being responsible for the cost.

It is ridiculous really, IMO.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Plus, I know a lot of people who could get insurance but they would rather have the extra 100-200 bucks in their pocket a month not looking at the future and the possibility of 10,000 of debt in hospital bills. I blame most of the problems on our society and the stupid choices we make.

$100-200 bucks, huh, that's all you think insurance costs? Through my husbands just over minimum wage job he can get basic health insurance for the three of us at the low low cost of $900 per month (note my heavy sarcasm). We are both in school full-time and we keep our bills at an absolute minimum, have not had a vacation or a simple trip in 5 yrs, share one cell phone, etc...the insurance would cost more than he makes in month. Even if he was working full time, the cost of insurance would take one whole paycheck out of two in the month, how is someone supposed to live off of that?

Up Vote Up Vote ×
If the family has no insurance, then that means they are not working. Maybe they should have thought about birth control before conceiving a child which they can't afford. .

You can read my other post where I expained that my husband is working a minimum wage job and the cost of basic health insurance for three of us would be $900 a month. A difficult amt to cover for someone with a better paying job. And what if they lost their job/health insurance after the child was born? Or what if they can never afford health insurance, I guess they should never be allowed to have children then, huh?

This argument is not black and white and no matter what anyone says it never will be. No matter the decision someone will have to "pay" in some way. So either some people have to pay a little more in taxes so that maybe they have to skip the Starbux once a week, or omeone else is left with no health insurance and has to spend the rest of their lives struggling with it.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Wow! I am completely awstruck by the positions and rationales that are taken by many of this forum. I have to keep checking my URL/ HTTP web bar to make sure that I am, in fact, on the allnurses.com forum. In my nursing school we were taught that healthcare was not a privilege but a matter of social justice. People have a RIGHT to healthcare. While I am acting as an RN and providing healthcare I don't give a rats a.. who is paying the bill, but that it is my duty not only as a licensed healthcare professional to provide that person with expert healthcare, but it is also my duty as an ethical human being to help them. In nursing school we spent a whole semester (wow, one semester, which included weekly journal type papers and one research paper) on ethics. I'm probably a little biased because my nursing school is one of the primary sponsors and advocates of Emergency USA, which is a little like Doctors without Borders but has a nursing focus and we had regular speakers from the program. Emergency USA builds and sustains healthcare clinics in war torn regions and the latest press release from Emergency USA was a letter urging NATO to stop their barricade and open a humanitarian corridor to let injured civilians from the recent Helmand, Afghanistan bombing through to receive the free healthcare they need from Emergency USA nurses and physicians.

And I'm not some whimsical new grad idealist. I have worked two jobs as an RN at the same time. The first job paid my bills, the second job I made enough to just cover the medical benefits for myself and my spouse. I paid over 800 a month for health insurance and I'm still stuck with the bills and getting reported by collection agencies because I refuse to act like a bank and provide a temporary loan to the insurance company until they can get their act together to figure out who is suppose to pay what. Obviously this free market thing isn't working.

We are going to pay for it collectively whether we like it or not. Wouldn't it be more cost effective to pay for prevention and encouraging healthy behaviors. Our government doesn't think so. Our government won't pay a specially certified diabetes educator nurse 100 a week to counsel and monitor someone but will gladly pay 50,000 or more to amputate their leg and the ensuing aftercare.

The integrity of any culture or society is based on how well the weakest members are cared for. Do we want our society to be remembered for the Desperate Housewives of Atlanta, Dances with the Bizarres, Flee or for the quality of care and respect that your premature infant or elderly aunt received in their most desperate times of need?

I really need to avoid this topic because it really burns my soup.

What "really burns my soup" is that....I can only hit "like" on this once!

Up Vote Up Vote ×

I don't think adults should be forced to pay higher insurance premiums to cover those who choose not to have health care insurance when they can afford it !. It may be easier on their pockets but not mine .

Maybe I am missing something here because I have seen this in several posts...but you do not pay higher health premiums to cover for those without health insurance or those on medicaid/medicare, that is paid through the government via our taxes. Your private health insurance costs have nothing to do with it.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
+ Add a Comment