Well, so far it seems this was a letter to the editor published in the Mississippi Clarion Ledger on august 23rd, 2009. The letter remains mostly intact with a few changes, that seem to be added to add to the racial stereotype.The In the original letter, the doctor seems to be making an attempt to remind readers that personal health management is crucial. Without making lifestyle changes, which the Obama Administration has preached for a while*, this will be a harder change to make. While I agree that its unfortunate that their will be people that take advantage of healthcare, though they will be punished with higher premiums for personal health choices, there is still a large amount of the population that needs healthcare to keep our costs down.
I found some interesting responses from other physicians who have received the letter and many feel that this oversteps the boundaries as a physician. That being said, it's a letter to the editor, it's part of the opinion column, thank god, so people know it's an opinion unlike much of the rhetoric seen around on certain news outlets these days.
What the letter does not address is the reason for the patient's visit. I'd bet money it has something to do with having a routine visit done in an emergency room, which a major cause of rising healthcare costs. Another thing to consider is that if your insurance company knew about the extracurricular activities you've participated in they would be hesitant to insure you as well. Insurance companies discount your rates for living a "healthy lifestyle" which they will continue to do. This bill has the goal to promote access to education within the non-insured to create better lifestyle habits. I'll attach some literature I've published on childhood obesity as supplemental reading too.
*See these articles
-http://articles.courant.com/2010-04-03/news/hc-cox-chapman-health-care-well.artapr03_1_affordable-care-act-wellness-programs-health-care
-http://www.basilandspice.com/weight-loss/42010-weight-loss-guru-contributes-to-presidents-plan.html
This is the original copy that appeared,
During my last shift in the ER, I had the pleasure of evaluating a patient with a shiny new gold tooth, multiple elaborate tattoos and a new cellular telephone equipped with her favorite R&B tune for a ring tone.
Glancing over the chart, one could not help noticing her payer status: Medicaid.
She smokes a costly pack of cigarettes every day and somehow, still has money to buy beer.
And our president expects me to pay for this woman’s health care?
Or nation’s health care crisis is not a shortage of quality hospitals, doctors or nurses. It is a crisis of culture – a culture in which it is perfectly acceptable to spend money on vices while refusing to take care of one’s self or, heaven forbid, purchase health insurance.
Life is really not that hard. Most of reap what we sow.
On Wed, Apr 7, 2010 at 4:55 PM
Sean,
I'm interested in hearing your opinion on this:
Robert
Pictured below is a young physician by the name of Dr. Starner Jones. His short two-paragraph letter to the White House 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 costly pack of cigarettes every day 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,
STARNER JONES, MD
