I’ve put off writing a post about this for some time. I knew I should write a post but didn’t know exactly what to write. You see, not all that long ago I lost an uncle to this disease. Yes, like you I see the late night television ads for one mesothelioma law firm or other. They seem to range from one guy out of timbucktoo to a Chicago personal injury lawyer. Some times they run ads claiming to be asbestos lawyers or looking for people who worked in the trades and were exposed to asbestos.
Given all of the brew-ha-ha over Obamacare I thought I should point out some interesting facts. The first fact is that most of the medical lawyers and injury attorneys would be out of business if Obamacare had been in place twenty years ago. I’m actually quite shocked at the token few dumb asses running companies and contributing to the Republican party. Then again, at this point in time the only people dumber than the asses in charge of companies donating money to Republican candidates and Super Pacs are the candidates themselves so I guess those CEOs are really contributing to keep the spotlight off themselves.
Here is some food for thought. Companies which made brake shoes/pads like Federal Mogoul wouldn’t have went under leaving shareholders hanging out to dry. The bulk of the lawsuits against all of the companies associated with asbestos stemmed from the fact people didn’t have any or enough insurance. Once you get a personal injury attorney involved the “settlement” goes up. Rather than piss and moan about “tort reform” Republican’s should be embracing universal health care coverage because it is the first and most important phase of tort reform. People who have 100% health care coverage combined with Social Security Disability benefits don’t have much incentive to stress out their lives by getting entangled in a law suit.
The quality health insurance companies have figured out they can pay the CEO less than $27 million in annual bonus and increase insurance sales by lowering premium prices. The shit insurance companies (of which there are a lot) will begin to disappear from the face of the planet on January 1, 2014. Quite frankly it is about time.
My uncle had great insurance. What he didn’t have was quality health care. Given the run for profit hire the lowest cost worker mentality of health care corporations, his condition was misdiagnosed for years. It wasn’t until his Mesothelioma had gotten way past treating that his local health care providers sent him to a University hospital in Chicago that it was diagnosed. Why? Because everyone down here thought all of his problems were his heart. It wasn’t until he got to a University hospital that someone looked at his lungs.
I’m writing this now for many reasons. The primary reason is so anyone reading this who is “north of 50” and worked in “the trades” takes notice. You need to go get your lungs checked. Not just listened to, an actual picture taken and examined. By the time you show other symptoms this disease is way too far advanced to leave you with many options. You can breath deep and feel healthy all you want. The simple truth is that humans have more than twice the lung capacity they need. By the time you have lost that much lung capacity you are in a world of hurt.
Why don’t most people “north of 50” get a picture taken? Typically, if they have health insurance, it does not cover it without a preexisting diagnosis. You have to prove you are dying before you can get a test which could have saved your life if you had it sooner. Under Obamacare that changes. As soon as we expand the law so it really is universal health care coverage we can stop companies like Federal Mogoul from going out of business.
Obamacare really is “business friendly”. It is also “investor friendly”.
