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So, I try not to get up on my soap-box very often... especially when it comes to politics.
BUT this can not go unshared. I saw this on FB some of you have seen this and shared it I am sure, but I wanted to post it here for more to see. All I have to say to this is AMEN!!! He said it all!


A young physician by the name of Dr. Roger Starner Jones wrote a short two-paragraph letter to the White House which accurately puts the blame on a "Culture Crisis" instead of a "Health Care Crisis"..

It's worth a quick read:


Dear Mr. President:
During my shift in the Emergency Room last night, I had the pleasure of evaluating a patient whose smile revealed an expensive shiny gold tooth, whose body was adorned with a wide assortment of elaborate and costly tattoos, who wore a very expensive brand of tennis shoes and who chatted on a new cellular telephone equipped with a popular R&B ringtone.


While glancing over her patient chart, I happened to notice that her payer status was listed as "Medicaid"! During my examination of her, the patient informed me that she smokes more than one pack of cigarettes every day, eats only at fast-food take-outs, and somehow still has money to buy pretzels and beer. And, you and our Congress expect me to pay for this woman's health care? I contend that our nation's "health care crisis" is not the result of a shortage of quality hospitals, doctors or nurses. Rather, it is the result of a "crisis of culture" a culture in which it is perfectly acceptable to spend money on luxuries and vices while refusing to take care of one's self or, heaven forbid, purchase health insurance. It is a culture based in the irresponsible credo that "I can do whatever I want to because someone else will always take care of me". Once you fix this "culture crisis" that rewards irresponsibility and dependency, you'll be amazed at how quickly our nation's health care difficulties will disappear.

Respectfully,
ROGER STARNER JONES, MD
If you agree...share this with others.
By:Richard Meckstroth

Comments

GreenPunkMama said…
This is SO true. I admit, we needed Medicaid to pay for Lillian's NICU stay, Dan makes under twenty-five thousand a year after he was laid off from his full time job. But the picture that came to mind when he described the patient sadly describes much of NJ, they're "poor" but make more than my family, spend way over what they make, own cell phones, digital cable, drive Escalades when they don't even HAVE kids, or ok maybe they have 1.
Aimee said…
I'm really not sure what to think here at all. I live in low-income housing (aka - The Projects), I have a 5 year old, a new baby on the way (surprise!!!), no job (got laid off while I was preg and can't find anyone who'll hire me), and I'm on foodstamps, Medical, and WIC.

Yes, I see people like this all the time. I do. These are the people collecting SSI for 'depression' because they have 'panic attacks' when they work, or these are the people who have 'chronic pain'.
Do I collect SSI? No. Could I? Actually, yes. I have an actual ailment that would qualify me, but you know what? I would rather work.

Thanks to a stink-tastic economy, this single mother with lots of tattoos, piercings, and very little else can't find a job. Did I mention that ALL of my body modifications are easily covered with business casual attire, and that I've worked for fortune 500 companies in the past?

Please, don't judge a patient by her cover. My cell phone is old, but it's the only number I have for job search, and none of my body modifications are younger than 2 years. I used to be a smoker, but found I couldn't afford the habit, and yes, I have fast food... maybe once or twice a month. Dollar menu.
saskia said…
As was said when I discussed this with someone on facebook, that doctor made a judgement on how she looked- I know a lot of rich folks that eat just as crappy and their bad health hikes up our insurance costs-
Nope, I don't want socialized health care, yep, there are lots of abusers of the system, makes me sick... do we have a culture crisis, absolutely, but it's not just poor people that have it
Anonymous said…
We ( hubby and 5 children ) just moved from a 3 bedroom duplex in Iowa about a mth ago...our neighborhood was nothing but "certain ppl" that drove those REALLY expensive cars/suv's, they all had rims and fancy pain jobs! They all have weird teeth, i guess gold or something? They all had brand new clothes etc..I said to my hubby, what the heck do they do for a living to be able to afford these things!! We were both shocked b/c we found out later that they were renting crapy houses, they didnt have jobs, we saw several using their foodstamp card at the gas station buying pop. It instintly ticked us off because my hubby works Extremly hard everyday without a break! But yet he gets paid $10 an hour!! He comes home to kids who expect everything b/c they are playing with kids who's parents sell drugs and get whatever they want! So thankfully we moved, unfortuanetly to a smaller house, but a wayyy better neighborhood! Our children dont play with ppl like that anymore. They are learning whats most important now- not wants but 'needs'!!! We still struggle b/c my hubby is self employed, economy stinks etc..so yes we are on state aid. But we dont abuse it! We will not be on it forever!
But to the ppl that sell drugs, have a trillion kids so they collect money on them..good luck b/c it will not last forever!
Sorry this just hits me wrong! Hope i made sense too!!

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