Constant Opinions

Ok, so it’s really not that bad. But I read about this one over on Blogging Baby, then read the free ebook at Every Child Matters and had to comment.

Now before anyone chews me out for comparing these states this way, remember I’m not the one drawing the Red/Blue state issue into it. The report did that. Frankly I’m tired of all the Red/Blue, Republican/Democrat, Conservative/Liberal bashing going on. People are going to disagree. Can we do it in a healthy way?

The basic idea of this report is that children in Red states are getting much poorer health care than in Blue states. The numbers are certainly interesting, but one should also note that many of the worst states are in the South and have been poor a very long time, no matter the political ideology.The point of all this is to really bring home the idea that children’s health needs to be more of a priority in this country. The amount spent per child annually by the government is $1 for every $8.40 spent on a senior. One guess who has better lobbyists? But you probably knew that already.

Being honest here, I know that our health care system is in major trouble. It’s an absolute mess. People without insurance wait until they have health problems major enough that they can go to the emergency room, so that they have to be treated whether or not they can pay for it. This includes parents who have no choice but to do that for their kids.

It’s a tragedy waiting to happen all too often. It also increases medical costs as the hospitals have to recover that lost money somehow, and so often these problems could have been treated cheaply if done so immediately.

If you want to be depressed, read the statistics in this report on things like infant mortality and maternal mortality in the United States versus other rich democracies. It’s really sad.

I wish I knew the answer. Universal health coverage is certainly a popular one, very common in other rich democracies, but a lot of people in the United States really don’t like the idea. But something needs to be done. With costs spiraling upward, we can tell the current system is broken.

Technorati Tags: health care, universal health care, United States, children’s health, child health care, red states, blue states

Filed under: Controversial, Politics