Your Insurance Saved You: $20.73

I see this as I open up the Walgreens package.

I am lucky.  I have a good job with good insurance.  And because of this, I just paid $7.00 for a bottle full of Oxycotin.  Oh yeah, we are partying like a Limbaugh tonight.

Two years ago, after 24 years working for a major company, I got laid off.  I got laid off because they could pay a fresh grad a bunch less than they paid me.  When they called me to come to my staff manager's office that Friday morning, I didn't have a clue.  I had just accepted a new hat in the company and was so focused on training, I was unaware it was lay off day.  New job, no set responsibilities, an average revue, those are death to someone over 50 when the time comes to trim the ranks.  I wandered out the door with my cardboard box while people averted their eyes.  I shot a lot of free pool and drank cheap tequila and tried not to worry.

And literally 2 days before the rehire cut off date, I accepted a lower paying job with the same company.  I accepted a job that my friends and co-workers dug up.  And I will forever remain grateful to them.  I kept my seniority, my retirement and my insurance because of those folks.  

I told my new boss, don't worry, if you say jump, I won't ask how high, I will ask is this high enough, or do you want me to start flapping.  And I meant it.  

Because I had people that believed I still had things to contribute to the company, I still have insurance, unlike so many people in this country.   Because I had people that believed in me, I could afford the huge and nasty dental procedure I just went through.  I now have titanium pins in my lower jaw and no real teeth (yeah, I need the oxycotin) .  So when this is all over with, I will have teeth again that don’t hurt.  And they will be pinned in so I will never have to watch my grandkids look away when my false teeth slide around while I am trying to tell them a story.

I am one of the lucky ones.  I kept my home.  I kept my nice car.  When I need tests, or check ups, I still get to just go and plug in my co-pay.  

Folks, everyone should have what I have.  No one should have to wait in line for minimal health care.  My niece lived with us for a year while her parents decided whether they liked crack better than they loved their daughter.  My brother-in-law chose the correct answer and he can no longer be with his wife, who he loves (we don’t understand that, but who does understand love).  But he is sober and dresses his daughter for school every day.  Did I tell you I was lucky?  I am and sometimes, it seems to rub off on my family and friends.  

But I tell you this because I had to work with Medicare while she was with us.  This meant taking her to overcrowded, nasty clinics with overworked and sometimes unscrupulous doctors who ran kids through for the money like animals.  They strapped her to a fucking board to do some dental work on her.  I sat outside and listened to her scream.  It took me 3 months to find a dentist who took Medicare and who did not believe in torturing children because they had so many patients, they did not have time to care about their fears.  She is deathly scared of the dentist chair to this day and may well be all her life because of those bastards.

Sorry if I ramble.  I really am pretty dazed out from the drugs.  But we must fight and fight hard because everyone deserves to get the medical treatment I get.  Personally, I don’t care if it raises my taxes.  I heard some people at work griping about how universal health care would have to be paid for by us.  My response was, if it comes to raising our taxes,come on, our worst problem is deciding whether to put in a hot tub with the pool.  Can’t you give up your hot tub so people can get decent health care?  

So please, do what it takes to get Obama the winning numbers in Ohio.  Get this race settled so we can move on and take the Republicans out of power.  And, if Clinton does manage to get the nod, don’t let your anger at the system derail the big effort.  We must have a Democrat at the helm.  We must do whatever it takes to give everyone the health care they deserve.  It is just too important to let anything stand in the way.