The Evil Word

Earlier this year, after being recurrently (and then constantly) sick, I went under the knife. Adios, gallbladder. Though all went more or less smoothly, this was my first experience with major surgery–and how much it costs. My procedure was pretty common and basic–I didn’t even have to stay overnight–but when all was said and done, it still ended up in the 5-digit dollar range. I was fortunate to receive an admirable hunk of charity from the hospital (St. Pat’s rocks) that helped pay off a great deal of my bills, but it’s still really expensive, especially for someone just out of college. And then, as always, there were complications with my insurance company, which I am lucky enough to even have at all…the whole ordeal gave me a better glimpse inside the US health care system, and to understand why it’s getting so much talk as an election issue. If I hadn’t received help, if I hadn’t had insurance, I’d be stuck with a diseased little organ, chronically nauseated, chronically puking. Fun. Yet trivial, when you think about someone in cardiac arrest who hasn’t been able to afford preventative care or medications. Someone who gets to die instead.

Unfortunately, the proposal of national health care for Americans brings to mind a word that many deem anti-American, downright evil…ready for it?…sure?…brace yourself…socialism! Augh!!!

Now that you’ve survived that, down to business: This compact, new-arrival on the non-fiction side of the store outlines the reasons a national health care system is not only good, but necessary in America right now. It’s clearly written and logically presented, a compilation of authors with various backgrounds. If you don’t know much about the issue–or even if you do–it’s a fabulous little resource.

10 Excellent Reasons for National Health Care, edited by Mary E. O’Brien, MD and Martha Livingston, PhD (The New Press, $13.95)