Welcome to the Brutally Honest Aspie segment! Join writer Nathan Young as he talks about what is on his mind. Anything from politics, news, current topics, or just whatever is happening can be talked about and discussed. See what is on Nathan’s mind below!
See this post on the following sites:
- Medium: https://nvyoung.medium.com/
- Substack: https://nvyoung.substack.com/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nvyoung/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nvyoung/
IMAGE CREDIT: https://unsplash.com/photos/C6TExpu8Znk
Let me just say it up front. If I do not have health insurance, I would die. It’s that simple. Throughout my life, I have had quite a few medical events that would go untreated without having any form of health insurance. And the doctors who have treated me have said that I need health insurance to live and going without likely means death to me.
And where I live in Alabama, which is one of the few states left that has not expanded Medicaid. People earning little income likely do not have any health insurance. That means people working at low-wage jobs like fast-food, retail, and other low income jobs likely do not have health insurance.
Groups in Alabama like Cover Alabama and Alabama Arise have been trying for years to get our extreme right-wing legislature to do the right thing and expand Medicaid. But the Republicans would rather listen to extreme right-wing political groups and see rural hospitals close rather than helping people.
Expanding Medicaid in Alabama should be a no-brainer. Expanding Medicaid in Alabama would save the state millions of dollars in costs every year. Medicaid expansion would also create thousands of jobs and keep hospitals especially in rural areas open. It would also give low-income workers health insurance so they can get medical treatment when they need it.
Instead, Republicans say expanding Medicaid is too expensive, and giving people health insurance would result in people quitting their low-wage jobs, which would not happen. All of that talk is just a smokescreen to try every trick in the book in the argument to not expand Medicaid, its hogwash.
Republicans and the right-wingers would rather see low-wage workers, poor people, and disabled people like myself just die. So, let’s talk about why I must have health insurance, or I would die.
Currently I am on Social Security Disability, which comes with Medicare. Over the past few years, I have had several health events that could have resulted in my death without health insurance.
A few years ago I was referred to a sleep study, and it showed just sleeping on my own without any equipment, my oxygen saturation rate was in the low twenty percent range, which pretty much can mean death.
Having health insurance means I could get a BiPap machine which can help me sleep at night. Also, having Medicare means I can get the medication needed to treat my type-2 diabetes and blood pressure. Just one month of my prescriptions would have cost over $1,200 if insurance did not cover it.
Having Medicare also meant I got the colonoscopy last August where two large polyps were found and cut out. The polyps were not cancerous, but if I did not get that colonoscopy, those polyps would still be inside me now, and could likely be colon cancer by now.
I also have gotten treatments for low iron counts that would not happen without Medicare. As you can see, if I did not have any health insurance there is a good chance I would be dead and six feet under by now.
Expanding Medicaid so people working these low-wage jobs is the best move for Alabama, no matter what excuses Republicans give. And if I lost the Medicare I have now, and did not have any health insurance coverage to replace it, I would have to leave Alabama and the Southeast and head North or West to a politically saner state like Minnesota, Michigan, Illinois, Colorado, yeah a blue state.
I can’t believe I need to say this, but just being homeless in a blue state where I can get the health insurance I need is better than living in a red state like Alabama where health insurance is hard to reach for lower income people.
Will the Alabama Legislature do the right thing this year and finally expand Medicaid? I am not holding my breath. It’s the Alabama motto anyways, screw the lower income poor people, they should just die off, it’s the Alabama way.
Categories: Brutally Honest Aspie Stuff
