Ebola and Texas

[DonCoquixote]

OK, disclaimers. I am in Florida, so I can sympathize with texas Liberals as we are surrounded by a bunch of idiots who take pride in voting for the rich bastards that screw us over. I am also aware that Texas has produced Liberals like Jim Hightower and Molly Ivins, people proudly to the left of the Clinton/Obama Democrats.

However, there are two things that should be mentioned. With the Ebola, we should be able to highlight why screwing the poor out of decent medical care is a bad thing for everyone. Is it any accident that, for all the people pouring into NYC and LA, this happens in Texas, a place like the rest of the Red States, cuts any and all public medical care to the bone? I am not throwing stones, I am in Florida, aka Texas Jr., and I half expect Miami to be a major bloom of the disease, because conditions are similar, both in over stressed medical care and exploited immigrants.

The fact is, we should not normally panic, but in America, especially in Dixie, we have allowed the Third world standard to be considered "pretty good."

[nc4bo]

1. I have exactly the same concerns for the same reason.

This is reality and the fact that there are many, many people without proper healthcare (for whatever reason) should be a major concern to all of us, including the rich buggers and corporate controlled politicians who think nothing can touch them.

[Louisiana1976]

2. Excellent point. Someone who was exposed to the guy in Dallas who has Ebola could develop symptoms

and because he or she doesn't have insurance, won't go to the hospital but will expose others to the disease.

[DonCoquixote]

4. exactly

Especially as the sick poor there are pretty much living off of whatever version of Robutussin they sell at the Dollar store. I say this as someone who was uninsured before Medicare.

[nc4bo]

7. I can easily see this happening here in NC

everyone says those concerned are panty wipes but I must tell ya, being a witness to insufficient, inadequate access to health care, it genuinely concerns me as it should anyone.

Any contagious/infectious disease will quickly and ruthlessly reveal our weaknesses.

[MinneapolisMatt]

3. I thought Rick Perry

was patrolling the border?

[AverageJoe90]

5. My main concern at this point is hospitals not following proper procedure.

Being the realist I am, I highly doubt Ebola will become a major problem here in the United States. However, though, on the off chance it does, medical incompetence would be a huge reason why it did. And, unfortunately, that kind of incompetence is still a problem in this country,

The federal government needs to jump on this now. No screwing around. And if it hurts the economy just a little.....well, you know what? Too fucking bad. This takes precedence now, because our private healthcare system clearly can't handle this well on their own.

[DonCoquixote]

6. ah, but here is the rest of the story

Ask any Medical professional working in a Hospital, even a Rush Limbaugh disciple, and they will say that there is stuff they know they should do, stuff they would like to do, but do not for fear some insurance bean counter will attack them. The fact is, Insurance is run by people that would gladly chop us into ham sandwiches if they thought they could make a profit, and it has shown in our medical care.

[AverageJoe90]

9. You may be right, sadly.

Which is why the government needs to step in for now and tell the insurance companies to back off, no matter how bad it may piss off the GOP.

[mnhtnbb]

8. My first thought, as a retired hospital administrator,

was to check on the ownership of the hospital--Texas Health Presbyterian--and I discovered
it is non-profit, but controlled by a megalithic outfit: Texas Health Resources http://www.texashealth.org/about

More and more hospitals and health care organizations have grouped themselves together like this, to survive.
It concerns me that these groupings are about economies of scale, and not about delivering optimal care
to people. Oh, they'll talk a good game in all their pr materials, but, mostly, it's about the bottom line.
And as for accountability? Ugh. Too many layers.

I think a lot of western countries are going to have to expect to see an influx of people who have
been exposed to Ebola. There was a comment on another thread here--don't have the link--about
someone on a plane coming from London and there were lots of folks from Sierra Leone on the plane.
I suspect that there have to be thousands and thousands of people--if they have any resources or contacts--
who are getting on planes to get out of the countries where Ebola has gotten out of hand. They will want
to come to Europe, the U.S., Canada or anywhere to get away from it--and, particularly, if by chance they've
been exposed, to get themselves to a country where they can get treatment to give themselves the best chance
of surviving. It's a potential nightmare.

I doubt this is the only case we're going to see in the US. I suspect there will be more. Lots more. And we,
as a country, better stop pooh-poohing the probability that it could easily become an epidemic here.

[Warpy]

10. I've been trying to do just that, pointing out on post after post

that the one word on the Ebola patient's chart that made all the difference was "UNINSURED."

This could just as easily have happened at Mass. General Hospital in Boston or Johns Hopkins in Baltimore. It's not just the US's third world in Dixie.

Those of us who have worked in the trenches aren't doing any Texas bashing on this one. It's all over the country and it will eventually kill us all.

Men like the Koch brothers think their money will insulate them from all the consequences of impoverishing the population around them. They think that until they are dying from the disease they never thought they'd catch.

[Vinca]

11. This should be a time when people start demanding single-payer healthcare.

As we are now seeing, access to healthcare for EVERYONE is a public health issue. Up until now, the GOP seems to have believed the bad bugs can distinguish between the insured and the uninsured so no need to worry. And now we've got ebola rubbing shoulders with Rick Perry. It would be amusing if it wasn't so deadly.