ObamaCare: Death or Deductible?

“I should have gone to the hospital. [But] I knew there was a big bill waiting for me if I did, and I rolled the dice.” – Dr. Ashish Jha, Harvard University employee

Remember, the entire purpose of health insurance is the ability to receive inexpensive medical attention. In 2017, not even a M.D. can afford the so-called Affordable Care Act (known colloquially as ObamaCare). This big government behemoth—which swallowed 1/6 of the U.S. economy—is so costly, it actually discourages enrollees from seeking care. In George Orwell's dystopian novel “1984”, how is real-life ObamaCare any different than Big Brother's “Ministry of Peace” that actually makes perpetual war?

Harvard heath-policy researcher, Dr. Ashish Jha's heart had raced dangerously for more than an hour. His home remedies were ineffective. Was his condition life threatening tachycardia which can lead to a heart attack? He couldn't be sure. He admitted to his wife that the solution was an emergency room visit. Yet, this doctor feared his potential demise less than the 6,000 deductible that awaited him if he sought treatment. Cowed by the economics, like so many others, he didn't go.

When Dr. Jha signed up for the “lower” premium higher out-of-pocket plan, it had been a kind of personal experiment for him. An academic's quest to better understand how a trade-off—the cost-benefit ratio—influences heath. Unfortunately, his ivory tower scenario resulted in a life and limb gamble no different than Russian roulette. With the clock ticking, what matters more: money or mortality?

Today, that's a concrete question for the Republican-controlled Congress to answer. Why do they continue to dither over repealing ObamaCare? You know, the action they pledged to take six years ago? Dr. Jha is in the same boat as at least 46 million Americans with deductibles of $1,000 a year or more. For context, patient liability has increased a whopping 67 percent in the employer market since 2010. (ObamaCare was signed into law on March 23, 2010.) Furthermore, The Health Policy Brief by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation summarizes Dr. Jha's dilemma rather clinically:

“Increasing plan deductibles has emerged as one potential solution to slowing health care cost growth by reducing use”.

Besides increased medication, Dr. Jha's cardiologist indicates a procedure will likely to cure his infirmity. Despite his health scare, Dr. Jha's decided to roll the dice for yet another year. Although he's clear on the solution, he's still stymied by the gargantuan deductible. Can one blame him if he's waiting on the Republicans' cost-effective ObamaCare replacement?

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A Bleeding Heart's 'Supreme' Sacrifice

All of me – Why not take all of me

Can't you see I'm no good without you

Take my lips I want to loose them

Take my arms I'll never use them

Your goodbye left me with eyes that cry

How can I go on dear without you...

From the movie theme of “All of Me” (1984)

Given the generally unhinged and hysterical state of today's vanquished progressives, it's singularly appropriate that a dark interpretation of the title song from a 1984 movie would suddenly come to bear. With President Trump's Supreme Court nomination of the eminently qualified Neil Gorsuch, 49, their squirrelly thoughts shift wildly to the future loss of crone Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, 83. Compare the above stanza with the following disjointed rant exemplified by The Washington Post's Rachel Manteuffel:

“I’ve found myself thinking about you lately, and how things are going with you, and I just wanted you to know that I ... have some tokens of my esteem that you might enjoy. Such as blood. If you have any need for blood, you can have the eight or so units of A-positive that are right here in my body. There’s also a gently used liver in here, lobes of it just lying around if you need them.... Do you like platelets? I have excellent platelets. I have had all my shots. ... My kidneys function well. I have two. Either one is yours for the taking. Both, if need be. … I have scads of nerves that you can have. Just take them. My skin would graft onto you beautifully. Bones, stem cells, a whole eyeball I don’t need, feet of intestines, feet. Just a ridiculous amount of health, way more than should rightly belong to someone with my standing in the world.”

Ms. Manteuffel also specifies her large heart to be trimmed to fit Justice Ginsburg's diminutive size. This frankly gory element brings to mind another 'body parts' film, “The Silence of the Lambs” (1991) (released synchronistically on Valentine's Day). Specifically, how is one not graphically reminded of Jame Gumb's basement lair of kidnapped and skinned women, or Hannibal Lecter, when Manteuffel suggests:

“If you need to keep me on life support in your house, just in case, while you slice off any bits that appeal to you, that is totally fine and my loved ones will understand. … We have discussed it. ”

Ah, what would Dr. Lecter say about that conversation? In any case, notice the conspicuous absence from the rambling list of human anatomy: this scribbler's brain. Is that because Manteuffel knows Ms. Ginsburg has no use for such an inferior organ? Or does this Post employee use her gray matter so infrequently that it never occurs to her to offer it? Indeed, her opinion piece is so bizarre she should be known henceforth as Macabre Manteuffel!

“MM” would greatly benefit from reading “On Death and Dying” (1969) by Elisabeth Kubler-Ross. Within, the five stages of grief resulting from an unexpected loss (read: the 2016 presidential election) are detailed. Philosophically, Manteuffel is stuck at stage three, known as bargaining. Still, the ultimate goal of any grieving process is acceptance. That means intensive therapy, though not with “Hannibal the Cannibal”. This deluded ideologue will need to keep all of her body parts to get there.

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Presidential Voting: A Fate Worse Than Death?

Almost 6 months out, in the most polarizing and unconventional (read: Trump's Revolution) contest in modern times, both major party nominees are widely disliked by the electorate. In another bizarre twist, Americans are voicing their unvarnished displeasure with our broken political process in a new way: through their obituaries. Indeed, who would not prefer a heavenly “check out” rather than vote for a corrupt, treasonous “devil” like Hillary Clinton? Well, that part—at least—is understandable!

As a case and point is 68-year-old Mary Anne Noland. Dying in hospice care, this clearly spunky lady had had enough. Not of a deadly illness, but of Washington politicians. And in the Obama years of overspending, habitually lying Democrats—and do-nothing, gutless Republicans—who blames her?

One rapidly approaching death tends to speak truth. She told her husband the only bright spot would be not having to vote for anyone “in this crummy election.” Thus was born her attention-grabbing obit: “Faced with the prospect of voting for either Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton, [Mrs. Noland] of Richmond chose, instead, to pass into the eternal love of God....” Well, onto eternity. You go, girl!

This unusual trend of using obituaries as a campaign mechanism has increased from 5 during Bush-Kerry (in '03-'04) to 119 with present-day Trump-Clinton. Don't like the candidates? Skip the absentee ballot and drop dead—literally!

While I champion Mrs. Noland's right to express herself, that view is overly cynical. Even before impending departure to the pearly gates, there's no excuse in a democracy not to vote. That better choice is clear: plain-speaking, pro-American Donald Trump. While imperfect, he's a vast improvement over scandal-laden Hillary. She—an angel to no one—never politically says die.

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