Please don't think I'm being cruel by saying this, but I hope it's only the elderly mentally-unstable Medicare/Medicaid participants that aren't getting their meds. I mean, if there's a group of mentally-unstable individuals--and there is--that's being deprived of mood-stabilizing drugs, I don't want that group to include, say, the physically fit. And on the whole, elderly people are less fit than other groups. Because if someone with bi-polar disorder or schizophrenia isn't able to get his meds, I don't want him to be able to fly into a violent rage without the assistance of a cane or walker. I want to be able to avoid getting bludgeoned to death by getting away at a comfortable jog.
I bring this up because an estimated two million mentally-disabled people have not been able to get their meds under the new healthcare program which debuted at the beginning of the year. Or they've been able to get some of their meds, but not others. Like, they might get the meds that cover, say, arthritis, but not the meds that cover the voice in one's head telling one to kill the cashier at the local diner. Oops.
According to an official in the healthcare industry (see Washington Post article), "I really don't know what the future will bring. . . . I have a very deep concern that psychiatric patients will suffer disproportionately," Sharfstein said. "If by the end of February or March, if [federal officials] haven't figured this out, we could have an epidemic on our hands."
Did you catch that? An epidemic. Sweet.
Remind me not to leave the house without a helmet in the coming months. Thanks for protecting us Congress!
6 comments:
I don't know where my relationship would be if I didn't have anti-psychotics to mash in my girlfriend's apple sauce. Thanks for breaking up another happy home, Congress.
I tried to make a joke, but it didn't work. I know how devastating it can be.
It's hard knowing that you are dependant on little pills to keep you healthy in the first place. To then be told you can't have them is
Side effects (drowsiness, hair lose, sexual dysfunction, weight gain, digestive trouble) can be more obvious to others than the mental illness. Also, withdrawals symptoms can be worse than the reason the medication is prescribed.
Just more evidence that the "culture of life" only cares if you are breathing or not and couldn't give a flying fuck how enjoyable life is.
Tim,
I can't say that I literally give a flying fuck, but I do hope that you and the other 7 billion people running this planet find happiness, at least much of the time.
I'm also not a culture of life psycho. I wish someone would come up with a pill to cure them. There is cyanide, but that doesn't cure the patient.
I don't want to kill anybody. In fact, I wish them happiness too.
A couple million that are on Medicare/Medicaid that aren't getting there drugs? How many are crazy and don't fall into that category? That's a lot of crazy in this country.
I know it's been difficult getting drugs for grandma and my mother has to start all over and rework her drug program based on what is now covered and what isn't.
They still don't cover the grande mochas that keep me sane. I know the people I work with would prefer that they be subsidised so I can stay on my plan.
This still doesn't explain Paris Hilton. I figured she could afford insurance. Maybe I'm wrong. Or maybe her kind of crazy just isn't treatable, except with cyanide, or with respectable clothing and a ball gag.
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