Now that we have that out of the way...I hate election season. Particularly supporters of one candidate who has been out of the race for months. I won't say who it is, but he's got some pretty outrageous ideas, and some VERY enthusiastic supporters.
Now, recently, my wife was very ill, and was hospitalized 4 times in a 2 month period, along with about half a dozen trips to the ER. The total cost of her healthcare was well in excess of $150,000. In addition to that, our son was born 10 weeks pre-mature, and spent 5 weeks in the NICU. The cost of this was closer to $250,000. Over our lifetime, I'm willing to bet that my family has racked up close to half a million dollars in healthcare, and we aren't done.
One particular candidate supporter ranted on Facebook about how our healthcare insurance was a total ripoff, and his favorite candidate has a healthcare savings plan that would be a much better option. Now, I did a little research, and apparently this HSP would allow for people to self insure for healthcare, but once your savings plan is empty, healthcare costs revert to out of pocket. I responded by explaining that my family healthcare has been so expensive that any healthcare savings account would have been empty years ago. I was dismissed as being emotional, and written off by the poster.
Now I'm not one to shy away from a spirited conversation, but to simply dismiss me as emotional because the healthcare costs in question relate to my family is asinine and a discussion killer. Of course I'm emotional! You tend to get emotional while you are sitting in a NICU watching your premie son sleep, wondering if you are going to need to arrange a homecoming or a funeral in the next few weeks. You also get emotional as two flight nurses are prepping your unconscious wife for a helicopter flight to a larger hospital in the region. However, being an intelligent adult, I can set all this aside and discuss the costs of all these events in a rational manner. Clearly, I'm not the one being emotional regarding my opinions about the best way to pay for healthcare.
Needless to say, he is no longer a Facebook friend.
And I'm OK with that.
"Come up to the Lab, and see what's on the slab..."
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