Hello all,

Thank you so much for your patience. I’ve been having some health issues, in fact I was in the hospital for about 10 days, and have not had the strength or focus to write, record and post the weekly affirmations. I’m not quite out of the woods yet, in fact I have several more tests and procedures to undergo, but I’m able to write and record affirmations again.

On to the mini-rant:

I’ve spent most of the last 11 years overseas, in countries where healthcare is considered a right, not a privilege. Being back in the US, where healthcare is a commodity, has been something of a shock. I’m lucky (?) enough to be making so little money here, that I qualify for Medi-Cal, so I don’t have to worry as much about the healthcare costs; otherwise, I would be looking at a minimum $50,000 hospital bill, not including the costs of the specialists and the scans and testing I’ve had to do, and still have to do.

I think I have a little more insight into why the US healthcare system is the way it is. When you have to worry about paying to stay or to get healthy, you sacrifice your health. You get just healthy enough to keep working, to keep producing, even though you’re actually getting sicker and sicker. You are seen as another cog in the wheel of capitalism, and you are replaceable. The ones making money off of you don’t care – there’s another one where you came from.

(And don’t get me started on the Affordable Care Act – the insurance industry took a decent idea and mutated it so thoroughly that it’s become a joke on the American people.)

People should not have to choose between getting needed healthcare and paying for their homes. They should not have to choose between mortgaging their house to pay for cancer treatments, so they can live long enough to raise their kids, or to keep working and pay the mortgage, so even if they die, their kids will have a place to live. 

It’s unconscionable that human beings have to make that kind of choice.

And if you think this is a rant in favor of Medicare for All, you’re absolutely right.

End rant.

Thanks again for your patience, and I look forward to sharing more affirmations with you.