We have all heard at some point that money cannot buy happiness. I truly believe this as I have seen some very wealthy people who were still quite miserable people. The smart ass response "yeah, but poverty ain't so hot either" does make a valid point, however. Going without food/shelter/heat, etc is not a whole lot of fun either. But the over
all point, that happiness comes from within is all too easily forgotten, especially when one is bombarded with images of the "Cribs" of the stars, exclusive vacation islands of the wealthy and cancerous Manhattan penthouses owned by CEO's of large corporations.
Despite its propensity to drive people to greed and corruption, money is not all bad. $4.00 can buy you a month's supply of generic Prozac at many pharmacies. And $125,000 can buy you an Audi R8 so you can get to the pharmacy really fast and look really cool to boot. My husband does not understand this point, but I am fully of the belief that I could derive a whole lot of happiness out of an Audi R8. Not that I am not happy now, I am, but if I had a really bitchin' ride like that, it would be off the charts.
In stark contrast, lack of money has caused a definite level of misery that cannot be ignored. Now I am getting political as a warning. I realize that the whole health care reform debate is heated and has caused a lot of division in this nation, but I work in a system where probably 1/2 of my patients are uninsured. Struggle though we might to scrounge and get them Medical Assistance, this often falls through and a very common cause of readmission of patients is lack of access to care. It is heartbreaking to work with a patient to get him/her well and on the path to recovery to hear that a few weeks later the same patient is in the ICU on a ventilator after an overdose. Once stabilized, their stories often sound very familiar "they denied me medical coverage because I was working and earned just a few dollars too much" or "some piece of paperwork got lost in the mail and the shut of my Medicaid." The end result often is the same. The patient cannot afford to come in for outpatient appointments, cannot afford his/her medications and suffers a relapse of his/her symptoms. This especially bothers me in patients that are employed and trying to get by but cannot afford the $1000 monthly cost for (individual) medical insurance or do not qualify at all due to pre-existing clauses. Forced to make choices between paying the bills or coming in for appointments, they pay the bills, prescriptions do not get filled and they decompensate. True, some psychotropic medications can be bought for $4.00, but many of the newest ones with the fewest side effects can cost hundreds of dollars a months.
I am not going to say that a $4.00 script for Prozac can make someone totally happy, there is no true "happy pill" out there, but it is a good tool to help our patients on the road to getting well and solving the problems that got them depressed. Without the medications, relapse into the torment of depression or psychosis is almost certain. People do not like the idea of health care reform, but without some kind of change, a lot of people are going to continue to suffer and put a strain on an already overburdened health care system. Those people are not just numbers, they are real people with real feelings and deserve care just as much as those of us who are lucky enough to have jobs that provide health insurance.
I am not sure if the bill in front of Congress is the answer to our ailing health care system, but I do know that doing nothing is certainly not. Nor am I suggesting that reforming the entire health care system in a few months with a bill thrown together by a bunch of mostly attorneys is the way to go about reforming the system, but at least someone is trying to address the problem. If I had the chance to talk to the President, I would recommend he form a committee comprised of doctors, nurses and other health care providers, hospital administrators, and yes, even insurance execs and have them come up with a plan that makes sense for the American people. Attorneys need not apply. When they come up with a plan, present it to congress, put it up for a vote and fix this system before it bankrupts the country. Then I would let all the doctors of the country go out and kick the @%*& out of all those ambulance chaser attorneys who are driving up the cost of malpractice insurance and prescription medication by suing every pharmaceutical company out there because it gave someone a headache.
Now THAT would make me happy. But not as much as the Audi R8.
Next - Thank God for Generics - part II
all point, that happiness comes from within is all too easily forgotten, especially when one is bombarded with images of the "Cribs" of the stars, exclusive vacation islands of the wealthy and cancerous Manhattan penthouses owned by CEO's of large corporations.Despite its propensity to drive people to greed and corruption, money is not all bad. $4.00 can buy you a month's supply of generic Prozac at many pharmacies. And $125,000 can buy you an Audi R8 so you can get to the pharmacy really fast and look really cool to boot. My husband does not understand this point, but I am fully of the belief that I could derive a whole lot of happiness out of an Audi R8. Not that I am not happy now, I am, but if I had a really bitchin' ride like that, it would be off the charts.
In stark contrast, lack of money has caused a definite level of misery that cannot be ignored. Now I am getting political as a warning. I realize that the whole health care reform debate is heated and has caused a lot of division in this nation, but I work in a system where probably 1/2 of my patients are uninsured. Struggle though we might to scrounge and get them Medical Assistance, this often falls through and a very common cause of readmission of patients is lack of access to care. It is heartbreaking to work with a patient to get him/her well and on the path to recovery to hear that a few weeks later the same patient is in the ICU on a ventilator after an overdose. Once stabilized, their stories often sound very familiar "they denied me medical coverage because I was working and earned just a few dollars too much" or "some piece of paperwork got lost in the mail and the shut of my Medicaid." The end result often is the same. The patient cannot afford to come in for outpatient appointments, cannot afford his/her medications and suffers a relapse of his/her symptoms. This especially bothers me in patients that are employed and trying to get by but cannot afford the $1000 monthly cost for (individual) medical insurance or do not qualify at all due to pre-existing clauses. Forced to make choices between paying the bills or coming in for appointments, they pay the bills, prescriptions do not get filled and they decompensate. True, some psychotropic medications can be bought for $4.00, but many of the newest ones with the fewest side effects can cost hundreds of dollars a months.
I am not going to say that a $4.00 script for Prozac can make someone totally happy, there is no true "happy pill" out there, but it is a good tool to help our patients on the road to getting well and solving the problems that got them depressed. Without the medications, relapse into the torment of depression or psychosis is almost certain. People do not like the idea of health care reform, but without some kind of change, a lot of people are going to continue to suffer and put a strain on an already overburdened health care system. Those people are not just numbers, they are real people with real feelings and deserve care just as much as those of us who are lucky enough to have jobs that provide health insurance.
I am not sure if the bill in front of Congress is the answer to our ailing health care system, but I do know that doing nothing is certainly not. Nor am I suggesting that reforming the entire health care system in a few months with a bill thrown together by a bunch of mostly attorneys is the way to go about reforming the system, but at least someone is trying to address the problem. If I had the chance to talk to the President, I would recommend he form a committee comprised of doctors, nurses and other health care providers, hospital administrators, and yes, even insurance execs and have them come up with a plan that makes sense for the American people. Attorneys need not apply. When they come up with a plan, present it to congress, put it up for a vote and fix this system before it bankrupts the country. Then I would let all the doctors of the country go out and kick the @%*& out of all those ambulance chaser attorneys who are driving up the cost of malpractice insurance and prescription medication by suing every pharmaceutical company out there because it gave someone a headache.
Now THAT would make me happy. But not as much as the Audi R8.
Next - Thank God for Generics - part II
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