A rant on something that bothers me . . .

Healthcare in America has many problems, this is obvious. Many people have their ideas on ways to make it better, and ways to fix this or fix that. And most people believe that everybody deserves at least some sort of healthcare. But some people clearly get better healthcare than others, and not always the people you would expect . . . . so begins my rant . . .

Prisoners. Really?

I have a patient who needs a new liver, which he destroyed through multiple methods: drinking alcohol, using IV drugs, and then there's the issue of being stabbed in the liver. He has other health problems which landed him in the hospital, and require surgery to completely fix, but his liver is too bad to do the surgery and survive. He's been in the hospital for an extensive amount of time. But he will be transferred to another facility, and put on top of the liver transplant list, and if he does get a transplant, his other health concerns can be fixed as well. That seems all well and fine, maybe. But here's the clincher - this patient is a prisoner, for what I'm not aware, but that's not important.

As per protocol, he has two around-the-clock gaurds that sit in the room with him all day, getting paid overtime to watch the television while the prisoner lays there and sleeps, eats, and sleeps some more. It's too big of a risk for him to be transferred back to the prison, and there is not a bed for him at the new facility yet, so he's basically just staying in the hospital biding time until he can go to one or the other. He is getting the best that healthcare has to offer. And he will be ahead of many (much more well-deserving, in my opinion) individuals waiting for a transplant. How much do you think this all costs? More than I want to know. Hundreds of thousands of dollars, just for this one prisoner. The worst thing is, this is pretty commonplace. Prisoners generally get great healthcare. The government makes sure of this.

When I told the doctor I'm working with that my husband doesn't have any health insurance currently, he quickly responded that if ever gets into any real health trouble, to have him go throw a brick into a government building and get sent to jail, where they will send him to the hospital so he will get the medical attention he needs.  He's seen a few cases where people from other countries, where the healthcare is dismal, will come "visit" our country specifically to cheat the system by performing a minor crime to get the medical assistance they need.

Yet, programs like medicaid and medicare are struggling. WHY? Why are we giving so many healthcare dollars to prisoners, people who do not contribute to society and we are punishing for wrongdoing? Not to say that we shouldn't take care of them at all . . . but there's a line . . .

Ugh . . . end of rant, because if I continue, it'll start devolving into nonsensical babble. . . .