Lemons in the Mix
So, I do write about this often enough through social media means—but people who have had these kinds of illnesses–dissections, heart surgeries, any number of events that could catastrophically devastate your body–we are lemons. Now–it doesn’t mean we are sour or unable to be good, but lemons in terms of monetary value. We cost the country money. As I have said before, if you want proof of a person’s monetary value, do a credit check on them. In the United States that is our sole means of measure and unfortunately for many of us, this lemon status means we won’t have things through normal or average channels. I am a lemon and I have had millions in dollars in medical bills over the past 2 decades that I certainly was unable to pay. People mention to me this idea of payment plans like you can be on payment plans for a few hundred thousand dollars each time. NOT. GONNA. HAPPEN. Now, how do I get away with throwing bills away? Well, I have no assets, thanks to this disease. I could never own a thing (they will take what you have away if you don’t pay)–I went into adulthood knowing I COULD HAVE NOTHING. How’s that for the American dream, guys? It’s not.
**And I don’t throw away ALL the bills, I feel I need to add. But the ones with 5 to 6 figures, What the ever living fuck.
So this latest election proved to me that people see money as the first American value. The reason I say that is that people voted a businessman into office. What does a successful businessman do? He sees places he can cut cost and make things profitable. Tossing a bunch of people off of their healthcare might seem like a short-term solution, but if everyone did like I did (throw the bills away, what the hell can I do with them?)–well if everyone did what I did the whole financial system would collapse. Maybe that is the end game but it’s not a real solution for me. So this country voted a businessman into office and he correctly has identified that we are a losing bet. Of course we are if we have medical bills nobody but a rich person could afford. And I HAVE ALWAYS HAD INSURANCE, just in case any of you felt compelled to be critical of me. You cannot enter adulthood with a chest full of dissections without making sure you had a job that offered it. Screw doing WHAT YOU WANT to do. If what you want to do didn’t have a good company behind it to support healthcare, well, you didn’t take that job. Now of course the least resistant thing to do might be going to apply for disability. And I certainly have had the gamut of issues, any one probably being enough. But who the hell wants disability as their only option? And my check probably wouldn’t be small since I have been working since I was 15, but not big enough to live any real life on.
So yes, the businessman correctly identified we are a losing bet so he is stripping all of those protections away. And ultimately…why should a healthy person contribute to a system to help the sick? Is it THEIR fault you were born? Certainly not but fuck this society which sees money as a value over people. It’s akin to the same argument of why should I have to pay taxes for schools, I don’t have any kids! Yeah, okay. Neither do I, but I pay them because I don’t want to be governed by idiots when I am older.
We should all have healthcare because one, you never know, and two, because it is the humane thing to do. As I had written recently with our D-EXIT–we ARE moving to Amsterdam–I would have to count on an entire country’s moral background and favor in order to feel like I wasn’t going to have to die of something treatable with preventative care. I am not ready to die, especially now given I see I can have a life.
Now if you are here and are currently employed with a company providing healthcare, you likely won’t feel the effects of the pre-existing protections being tossed. This is of course unless the costs for the corporation you are employed with rise to a too high level. Now they cannot tell you they are firing you for being ill, but it certainly wouldn’t be hard for HR to identify us–and with it get nitpicky and find reason to toss us off because we are lemons, don’t forget, and do affect healthcare costs for all.
Now if you SWITCH jobs–if the company is big enough they might not have a waiting period. They MIGHT not have to, but let me tell you the insurance companies still might designate a waiting period for care before your eligibility. Do you have backup medication for 18 months? Probably not. But with ALFAC the waiting period is 18 months for those of us with issues–it means you pay in for 18 months and better NOT have an issue, as the clock will restart for another 18 before they are required to pay a claim. And if you are trying to work for a smaller company–they would be INSANE to hire you and do that to the cost of their company’s healthcare.
So now you know why I have to leave. I have been playing this having nothing game for my whole life and it isn’t getting better. People in this country are meaner than they have ever been, and nobody wants to see anyone get anymore than they think they deserve. And for us sick people? Well, you guys picked a businessman with no record of charity or care about anything else, so all of us getting pared down to a money value is no surprise to me. I have been saying this since BEFORE the election.
Today I bought Rosetta Stone Dutch up to 3 levels for Don and I–I also paid into a copyrighting accelerated B2B learning experience which I am doing today and everyday until we get out. I see all these people on the EXPAT board for Amsterdam crying about how they don’t know Dutch and Don and I are not fucking around with this. When I decide to leave, oh I do leave. I might die trying, honestly, but this is the last fight I plan on fighting to win.
