Sunday, June 15, 2014
I have been contemplating the value of my health insurance recently. I do not know where I would be today if I did not have the health insurance I have. I have had health insurance at other times in my life but I have never appreciated the immense value it provides me until these last twelve months.
As I have made clear in previous writings here in my blog the diagnosis of PTSD I received last year in June was quite a shock. I was surprised in part because I had (willingly) gone to therapy earlier in my life to attend to the issues that I was plagued by in my earliest years of life. I thought that past treatment had been sufficient to address those early wounds. But then I underwent EMDR therapy and also sought out the talents of local shamanic practitioner Mary Rutherford. It then became clear there was more healing I could do. And I have sought out deeper healing...yet again without the expressed support of my paternal family of origin.
So now a year has passed. And then this last week an opportunity presented itself to be considered for a job back in the Monterey Bay area of California. I feel it would be foolish to not apply for it considering how much time and energy (often with no compensation in return) I gave in support of organizations dedicated to natural resource management located in that area. But I have some major considerations as I contemplate such a possibility. And one is the fact that the position would offer me no health insurance whatsoever. I would have to buy insurance on the private market in California. Also important to consider is the fact that I would lose my Medical Assistance insurance here in Minnesota on the first of the month following the month I would leave the state to relocate to California. This is not a small loss to consider. I will not take any undue risks that could seriously risk my own recovery and future health. And so I have to think seriously about the potential consequences of my choices.
Health insurance has been omnipresent in the political discourse of our nation these last several years. It's only natural this has been the case considering the overhaul of the health insurance system that has been a central focus of the legacy of President Obama. Seeing the vast variety of perspectives held by the American populace regarding health care has been an educational, eye-opening and sobering experience for me. I have heard some perspectives I personally find so deplorable, selfish and short-sighted that I could only wonder what were the influences that have molded individuals to develop such viewpoints.
For example, I recall hearing some people express the sentiment that health care is 'not a human right'. I find such a belief ridiculous. If health care is not deemed to be a fundamental human right then how can you create a stable, democratic society? If you are willing to watch your fellow citizens go uninsured and thereby be at heightened risk of illness, homelessness, destitution and the like then how can you simultaneously do any number of things such as 1) seriously call yourself a Christian, 2) profess to agree with the fundamental beliefs expressed within the United States of America's Declaration of Independence about all men being created equal and being endowed with certain inalienable rights (if we are created equal does it not follow that we should fundamentally enjoy equal access to fulfilling our most basic needs...including care for our very health?) and 3) claim you love your nation and believe in its exceptional place in the world (while ignoring the suffering of your fellow American citizens who, if you would support their own potential more actively, could make more of their lives and thereby make the United States a stronger and more vibrant nation).
I realize what I have shared is quite a mouthful. But it continually flabbergasts me that people can so vociferously proclaim their love of their country of citizenship and yet simultaneously completely ignore the needless and completely preventable suffering of their fellow Americans. If you want your nation to be a strong nation then it requires, in my opinion, that you actually give a rat's backside about the fate of your neighbors and fellow citizens! And yet many people seem not to be able to make the connection!
I see the callous disregard for the suffering of others embodied all too often in the discourse regarding healthcare that has been a predominant thread of our national discussion these last several years. If you can willingly and actively deprive other citizens of your own nation of the opportunities you have enjoyed and somehow find this a justifiable standard of behavior then I have to question the health of your own view of the world.
I have appreciated the depth and ongoing harm being caused by the political polarization that has persisted in the United States these last several years in part as a direct result of my own suffering and struggles to maintain my health as well as find a job worthy of my skills. As I have restored my health (with the great blessing of the very good health care insurance I enjoy by virtue of living in Minnesota) I have found myself feeling even more strongly that people who would willingly ignore the suffering of their fellow citizens are not only not Christians (no matter how much they may proclaim otherwise) but also not truly supportive of the spirit that informed the establishment of the United States of America as expressed in the Declaration of Independence. In short, I marvel at what other Americans think it must mean to be Americans.
I personally believe that health care is and should be a fundamental human right. Depriving people of a means to provide basic care for their very health (or failing to aid them in their efforts to do so) strikes me as not only antithetical to the basic spirit of the United States as expressed in the Declaration of Independence and Bill of Rights but also simply contrary to respect for the fundamental dignity of human beings.
I have been contemplating the value of my health insurance recently. I do not know where I would be today if I did not have the health insurance I have. I have had health insurance at other times in my life but I have never appreciated the immense value it provides me until these last twelve months.
As I have made clear in previous writings here in my blog the diagnosis of PTSD I received last year in June was quite a shock. I was surprised in part because I had (willingly) gone to therapy earlier in my life to attend to the issues that I was plagued by in my earliest years of life. I thought that past treatment had been sufficient to address those early wounds. But then I underwent EMDR therapy and also sought out the talents of local shamanic practitioner Mary Rutherford. It then became clear there was more healing I could do. And I have sought out deeper healing...yet again without the expressed support of my paternal family of origin.
So now a year has passed. And then this last week an opportunity presented itself to be considered for a job back in the Monterey Bay area of California. I feel it would be foolish to not apply for it considering how much time and energy (often with no compensation in return) I gave in support of organizations dedicated to natural resource management located in that area. But I have some major considerations as I contemplate such a possibility. And one is the fact that the position would offer me no health insurance whatsoever. I would have to buy insurance on the private market in California. Also important to consider is the fact that I would lose my Medical Assistance insurance here in Minnesota on the first of the month following the month I would leave the state to relocate to California. This is not a small loss to consider. I will not take any undue risks that could seriously risk my own recovery and future health. And so I have to think seriously about the potential consequences of my choices.
Health insurance has been omnipresent in the political discourse of our nation these last several years. It's only natural this has been the case considering the overhaul of the health insurance system that has been a central focus of the legacy of President Obama. Seeing the vast variety of perspectives held by the American populace regarding health care has been an educational, eye-opening and sobering experience for me. I have heard some perspectives I personally find so deplorable, selfish and short-sighted that I could only wonder what were the influences that have molded individuals to develop such viewpoints.
For example, I recall hearing some people express the sentiment that health care is 'not a human right'. I find such a belief ridiculous. If health care is not deemed to be a fundamental human right then how can you create a stable, democratic society? If you are willing to watch your fellow citizens go uninsured and thereby be at heightened risk of illness, homelessness, destitution and the like then how can you simultaneously do any number of things such as 1) seriously call yourself a Christian, 2) profess to agree with the fundamental beliefs expressed within the United States of America's Declaration of Independence about all men being created equal and being endowed with certain inalienable rights (if we are created equal does it not follow that we should fundamentally enjoy equal access to fulfilling our most basic needs...including care for our very health?) and 3) claim you love your nation and believe in its exceptional place in the world (while ignoring the suffering of your fellow American citizens who, if you would support their own potential more actively, could make more of their lives and thereby make the United States a stronger and more vibrant nation).
I realize what I have shared is quite a mouthful. But it continually flabbergasts me that people can so vociferously proclaim their love of their country of citizenship and yet simultaneously completely ignore the needless and completely preventable suffering of their fellow Americans. If you want your nation to be a strong nation then it requires, in my opinion, that you actually give a rat's backside about the fate of your neighbors and fellow citizens! And yet many people seem not to be able to make the connection!
I see the callous disregard for the suffering of others embodied all too often in the discourse regarding healthcare that has been a predominant thread of our national discussion these last several years. If you can willingly and actively deprive other citizens of your own nation of the opportunities you have enjoyed and somehow find this a justifiable standard of behavior then I have to question the health of your own view of the world.
I have appreciated the depth and ongoing harm being caused by the political polarization that has persisted in the United States these last several years in part as a direct result of my own suffering and struggles to maintain my health as well as find a job worthy of my skills. As I have restored my health (with the great blessing of the very good health care insurance I enjoy by virtue of living in Minnesota) I have found myself feeling even more strongly that people who would willingly ignore the suffering of their fellow citizens are not only not Christians (no matter how much they may proclaim otherwise) but also not truly supportive of the spirit that informed the establishment of the United States of America as expressed in the Declaration of Independence. In short, I marvel at what other Americans think it must mean to be Americans.
I personally believe that health care is and should be a fundamental human right. Depriving people of a means to provide basic care for their very health (or failing to aid them in their efforts to do so) strikes me as not only antithetical to the basic spirit of the United States as expressed in the Declaration of Independence and Bill of Rights but also simply contrary to respect for the fundamental dignity of human beings.
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I invite you to accompany me as I document my own journey of healing. My blog is designed to offer inspiration and solace to others. If you find it of value I welcome you to share it with others. Aloha!