A friend of mine shared something on Facebook that I wanted to pass on:
Check out this link. The health sector spent:
$544,367,861 on lobbying for health care. Wouldn’t that money be better served on helping the American public (8 lobbyists per member of Congress). I have a little friend, James Fulkerson, who could have used one tenth of 1 percent of that amount which equals: $544,367.86
I think my friend is being generous. At this point, I would be happy with one hundredth of 1 percent, or $54,436.78. (Did I do my math right?) Stacy is unable to work because she is James’ primary care giver. We have been trying to make ends meet on one income. So far we’ve been okay, but I do worry that someday we will run out of money. And then what?
The health care sector spent $544 million in 2009 alone on lobbying. I’m pretty sure they are trying to influence health care reform in their favor, and not for the American public. This is crazy! As my friend points out, 1/10 of 1% of 544 million is $544,000. In case you are unaware of how expensive health care is in the United States, there was more than $300,000 billed to insurance during James’ 61 day stay in the NICU. The cost of the bed in the NICU was about $2,300 per day. Just being in the NICU for 61 days cost $140,000. Every time a doctor stopped by to check on James, it was $200. It didn’t matter if he or she was there for 5 minutes or an hour. $200 was billed to insurance. Then you’ve got the cost of medications that were administered, the ultrasounds, the EEGs, the surgeries. The list goes on and on.
Health care in the Unites States is extremely expensive and it keeps getting worse. We need health care reform. And the fact that the health care sector is spending that kind of money on lobbying, I am a little worried that things are not going to be getting better for the American people.
