just wanted to let everyone know about this little film. i think this is a very important subject, one that rouses lots of controversy today, even among women. the idea in our capitalist american society that childbirth, one of the most natural and basic human rites should be turned into a business for making money, really turns my stomach. if you've had a baby, or are planning to have a baby, you'll be all too familiar with some of the scenes in this film...if you're neither, go see it anyway, your eyes are sure to be opened.
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Pardon me while I go on a diatribe. This is a pet issue of mine.
Rant on: I wouldn't call the system we have now "capitalism". It is soft corporate-socialism or soft fascism. I work in healthcare now and have a clear window on to what is wrong; government and business in bed together. A portion of my job involves determining the price of procedures done in the hospital, and let me tell you, it is a racket. We, the people, the consumers of the medical services, have been entirely removed from the normal market signaling processes that determines and set low prices while driving quality up. The third party payors such as Medicare really drive the pricing up and the quality down. The medical industry would look totally different today if we really had a free-market in health care, I personally think that most babies would be born at home, alternative methods would be accepted, and at home doctor visits would be the norm (remember Little House on the Prairie?). We are being fleeced and more of the "Great Society" socialized medicine will only make things worse.
http://www.mises.org/story/2285
http://www.lewrockwell.com/paul/paul407.html
http://quantum-mechanic.blogspot.com/2007/10/ron-paul-on-health-care.html
Don't hate me because I like to rant :)
thanks for the links.
i guess for me to call it a 'capitalist' society was a bit of an oversimplification. your job must be horrifically infuriating.
we are a far cry from the 50's when anyone who had a hospital birth just got the ether. "better than hearin' them bitches scream, right??" american doctors then just thought women were completely incapable of childbirth in any form. we're just too frail, i guess. don't get me started on the social issues surrounding women's prenatal care.
THAT would be a rant.
:-)
I wanted to thank you for the links also, Shannon. I paid out over 1800.00 last year in medical bills (still owe about 2200 more) and that was AFTER insurance. Though I had a completely natural birth (in the hospital) without even the presence of the doctor (the baby came before he could get there) and did every single bit of the work myself...they still sent me a post-insurance bill for 400.00, which some say is great but I still get pretty frowny about.
I always call and offer a settlement ammount to the doctor's offices and almost every one of them will give you a 25 to 50% discount on the leftover ammount, which gives you some inkling as to just how much we as patients are overcharged. It's so wrong!
But anyway, I know I'm just one of the masses that must bow to the whims of the healthcare industry and I try not to complain...TOO much. ;)
yes, that is gillian welch.
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