Without health, there is no wealth is the kind of folksy saying that I sort of agree with especially after a month of being sick and confined to home. The thing I know is that the relative wealth of a white boomer retiree makes being sick a very different experience for me than for many people in my country; I've got food, secure housing, plenty of firewood, wifi, streaming movies, etc. to comfort me in my affliction. Oh and did I mention great health care? I've known my doctor and family practice for decades, it's in one wing of a teaching hospital where my family has always received excellent care, and I have both retired teacher health insurance plus, at my age, Medicare (at least for now).
If I were living in my car and eating uncooked ramen noodles, relying on the emergency room to see a doctor, I might not have survived walking pneumonia. Or the allergic reaction to one of the medicines I was prescribed. As it is I'm on the mend and can waltz in without an appointment and get a follow up chest x-ray when the appointed day arrives.
What if I lived in another country?
I've experienced minor health challenges in a few different countries. In Australia, which has a public health system that is barely adequate buttressed by a private system that some can afford, I saw a nice doctor that my aunt knows and my out of pocket cost was not high enough to be memorable.
In Tokyo, where I lived for four years, I had two babies, mastitis from a staph infection, and the kids had the usual viral infections. There were doctors and midwives right in our neighborhood who charged an infinitesimal co-pay (like $2.50), and we were in the public health system by virtue of working and paying taxes (10% flat) even though we weren't Japanese. The doctors gave us prescribed medications on the spot but maybe only a couple of days worth so I would bring the baby back for follow up.
Japanese people at the time (early 1980s) did not vaccinate until age 2, but I was able to get the standard childhood vaccinations for my kids earlier than that by asking around. Whooping cough was still a thing if not measles, tetanus, diphtheria, or polio.
In India I contracted dysentery while about three weeks pregnant and was very, very sick for a long time while my husband bounced back quickly from the same ailment. I saw one of the many woman doctors trained in India and was given antibiotics and powdered electrolyte mix. Again, the out of pocket cost was so small I cannot remember it.
Now that I've lived through Covid and the anti-vax movement on steroids that it fueled, I have a few thoughts.
The body of scientific knowledge is based on data, not anecdotes. All of the above I've just shared is anecdotal. Being a boomer, I remember a time when the prevailing sentiment was that vaccines save lives and doctors usually know best. Being someone with chronic digestive problems that started at birth, I also know that Western medicine is far from the definitive authority on how to get or stay well. A G/I specialist finally diagnosed what was wrong with me, but it took a naturopath and an acupuncturist to get me back on the path to decent health.
All of that is background for me to say that the profit motive has infected health care in the U.S. and a profound lack of trust in medical authorities stems from this root cause.
After we were told that Covid vaccines would stop transmission (they don't) -- and that we were criminals if we questioned that orthodoxy -- public faith in medical authorities began to disintegrate.
After we were told that Covid couldn't possibly have originated in a lab (it could, possibly with Mossad's involvement) -- and that we were criminals if we questioned that orthodoxy -- public faith in our government's commitment to our health began to disintegrate.
Enter RFK Jr.
Kennedy is easily the most bizarre Secretary of Health & Human Services that we've had in my lifetime. One of the original "vaccines cause autism" advocates, he now appears to have walked that back somewhat -- or at least that's what he told senators in his confirmation hearings.
When I ran for the U.S. Senate in 2020 there was a large contingent who were intent on weaponizing anti-vax sentiment against me. Either trying to falsely paint me as anti-vax (as they had successfully done to pediatrician Dr. Jill Stein in 2016) or organizing opposition because I had made clear my position that parents are free to not vaccinate their kids, but in my opinion those kids should not be admitted to public schools.
To really understand the concept of public health, you might have to work in a setting like public schools for a few years. Many anti-vax parents are against schools, too, and they homeschool with widely varied results. One such parent commented online, "I am only responsible for my family's health" which is a sentiment that would probably get you sent to a re-education camp in China (kidding).
China was set up to be seen as the bad guy during Covid. The virus was clearly developed with U.S. financial and logistical backing, but it "leaked" in Wuhan. Hmmm, interesting. China went into overdrive to address the public health crisis, as did Cuba. The U.S. made sure a lot of very wealthy Big Pharma executives became even more wealthy, and withheld the patents for various early Covid vaccines.
China is not the bad guy here. Health care for profit is the bad guy. It is an oxymoron. It has eroded our faith in public health directives, and our faith in health advice from people who went to medical school.
If you haven't seen the mini-series Apple Cider Vinegar you might want to check it out. It's a recreation of the true story of an Australian health "influencer" who died of cancer after rejecting medical advice and instead attempting a fresh juice cure. Her mom also bought in and also died of a different type of cancer. Just today I learned that super model Elle Macpherson is another health "influencer" in Australia who rejected chemo for breast cancer and publicized it.
I like fresh squeezed juice as much as the next person. But I also like my friend in town who is still alive after chemo to treat bladder cancer. In fact, they are in remission and were given a clean bill of health over a year ago. Honestly, they were the last person I expected to go the conventional route based on their lifestyle up to that point. But they have a family who loves them. So they talked it over and came to the decision to let the doctors try their best. I'm sure being so healthy heading into self-poisoning to kill the cancer cells made a difference.
In what direction will Secretary Kennedy lead us? As long as Congress fails to take the profit out of health care, it probably won't matter much.
Am I too old to move to China?
