Ranting Ahead!

Okay, I have been trying to think of something entertaining, but the muses are on vacation (wish I was with them.) There are a couple of news stories from a couple of days ago that are bugging me, so here I go with a minor rant.

What is happening to our society? 

On Monday there were news reports of a major “rescue” – really an round up and arrest of teenage prostitutes, some as young as 13 in a couple of major American cities. The report was that most were runaways; at least half had never been reported missing by their families. What is wrong with our society when a life on the streets as a prostitute is preferable to a life at home, finishing middle school and high school? Why are officials excited about re-uniting these young people with families who either didn’t notice they were missing or couldn’t be bothered filing a police report? 

The second was a story about a couple in Texas who had a baby delivered by C-section while without health insurance and were billed about $50,000 by the hospital.  Why is acceptable in a country that spends as much on health care as a percentage of gross national product as the USA, fails to provide basic health insurance coverage to every citizen?  We spend more a percentage of gross national product on health care than England, Canada, France or Germany, and 20% of our population has no coverage. This is just not right.  

The news reporters hired a medical billing review service to look at the $50,000 bill, and reduced it by $30,000 by contesting charges for care that was never needed and by arguing for average cost of care charges – not charges that were 2-3 times the average for the area.  Medical billing is the Wild West. Why can’t we agree on what we will pay for treatment, tax incomes across the board to pay for it, cover everyone and run the profiteers out of the country? No American should face bankruptcy over necessary health care.