Same Difference

On the drive up to work today, I was listening to a talk show from the east coast on my satellite radio. The discussion was about the crappy health care that veterans, particularly Iraq veterans were receiving at Walter Reed. All of the horror stories are true, of course, & they are true at many, if not all, of the veteran health clinics/hospitals across the country. The trouble is that the health care problems the vets are experiencing are the same problems most Americans are also finding. On just an anecdotal level, consider these problems: a near 60 year old's dentist retires & no dentist in his home town will take him on as a new patient. He has to travel 35 miles to an even smaller northern Wisco town to find dental care. Another 60/50 something has an acute tooth problem. No one in this city of 8000 will see him, even on an emergency basis. Their emergency protocols only provide for their existing patients. He had to travel four hours to Minneapolis to get care. In terms of mental health care, it's just as bad. Any psychiatrist is nothing more than a medication monitor. Their is no real talk therapy going on. & this goes double for kids. Non-medical therapists are so overwhelmed that a person needs weeks to get an appointment, if an appointment can even be made. While I feel the vet's pain, I also feel the pain of all Americans when it comes to health care. Unless you are really rich, don't get sick, don't get depressed, don't have marital problems. It will just be suck it up, bitch, be a man.