My Pissing Match on Facebook

Today, on Facebook, there was a call to put the following quote for your status if you agree:

"No one should die because they can't afford healthcare. And no one should go broke because they got sick. If you agree post this as your status for the rest of the day."

Someone I know wrote a post - I don't have permission to post it and since I do respect her, I won't. However, it started this chain of comments, and one person in particular, really pissed me off. I feel strongly enough to post that person's comments, but I won't name names. Here's the exchange, starting with my reply to the person who wrote the original post:

Deanna: Why not the taxpayers? I wouldn't mind my taxes being raised so that everyone has healthcare. Also I think some of the financial incentives should be taken away from those companies who are just there to make money - i.e., pharmaceuticual companies who spend more money on marketing their product (like Pfizer!!!) rather than focusing their efforts on making patient's lives easier. I've got a rant about this on my blog . . .

Next Person: Tax payers are already paying for the health care of the indigent and the elderly. I wouldn't mind making a correction to Medicare/Medicaid with a strong effort to eliminate fraud, but I think that we should start with just that. Fix what we have, improve and expand on what we have to curb waste and offer coverage to the people that don't have it, but need it. Work on ways to cut costs that make sense like tort reform (disliked by trial lawyers the democrats' best friends and their very own special interest). I'm all for trying something to see if it works on a small scale. Let's get Delaware or DC to try a plan and we can call it social engineering.

Next Reply (this got me angry): You wouldnt mind, but the rest of us do! Nobody dies because they cant afford heathcare. If they are that poor then they qualify for medicaid, paid for by the tax payers. Even illegal aliens have to be given healthcare. You really think the government will run this well and efficiently? Like the war in Afghanastan, the ponzi scheme known as social security, the post office, or any of the other bankrupt programs run by our government? News flash Tootsie, all companies are out to make money. Why the heck shouldnt they? Companies grow, make proft, provide jobs and offer wanted/needed products or services. To answer your question H, people should be responsible for themselves, this liberal nanny state weve created to enable the incompetent has got to go!

Deanna: You know - my folks worked for 40+ years and paid into the system - they are on Medicare plus an insurance supplemental and still cannot afford basic things like allergy medication or to have preventive tests completed because the tests are sooo expensive. They owe thousands of dollars in healthcare costs. Don't call me Tootsie - I am a professor, I worked in the healthcare industry for several years, and I have metastatic breast cancer and I probably know WAY more about the healthcare system than you ever will.

Deanna (because I was still angry about "Tootsie"): Tootsie was offfensive and completely uncalled for.

Deanna (apologizing to the original poster for doing all this on her wall): I'm sorry, H, that this all came after your comment. Please forgive me.

The Offensive Person: 40 years of saving and they cant afford Benadryl? So because they were financially irresponsible and didnt adequately plan for their future im supposed to pay for them? I think we all owe thousands in debt for various things but thats called taking responsibility for ourselves and paying for our own wants and needs. Im sorry you have cancer, but you throw that up as if it gives you victim status and strengthens your position, then on top of it you claim to know WAY more about healthcare than I do. I would have though a professor would have been intelligent enough to know you must attack the argument, not the person, and if your going to put you position out in public you must have a little thicker skin. offer facts or ideas to help, not complaints, that fixes nothing. We need tort reform and competition between insurance companies. That will force lower insurance premiums and make it affordable for all.

Reasonable Post by a Friend of the Original Poster: You mean like paying tax dollars for wars we have no business in, or weapons we should never be using among tons of other wasteful thing too numerous to list. I vote for fiscal responsibilty but people still need care and our countries needs are not being met by the current system. Maybe not more tax dollars but a better use of them would be ok by me.

Deanna: [Offensive Person], you have no idea about my family. They tried their best to support us - they were not financially irresponsible - they had no money for education and they just were not given the opportunity to get good jobs. They were barely above the poverty line the whole time I was growing up through no fault of their own. They were in debt BECAUSE OF ... HEALTH CARE AND DENTAL COSTS the whole time I was growing up. Yes, they had insurance but even then, they owed thousands because of the limits of the insurance. I'm not using my cancer status to play the victim card. I'm using my cancer status because I have had to learn how to work the ins and outs of our current health care system - in other words, I have firsthand experience trying to get the system to work for me so that I do not go into debt trying to stay alive so I can make sure that I am alive to see my son grow into adulthood. Mister, you have no idea.

Deanna (apologizing to original poster): Again, H, I apologize. But some things need to be addressed.

Deanna (needing to address another point made by Offensive Person): You also do not know what steps I have taken to try to fix the system - Oregon may become another state that has a drug repository system and if it does, it's because I contacted my state rep and suggested it to her. I talked to a pharmaceutical company last month about what they can do to help cancer patients. Again, you have no idea - you just assume I'm a certain way because I am liberal and I want patients' needs to come before a company's needs.

Unbelievable, huh?