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Nicholas Kristof on the ACA/Obamacare

Oct 19th, 2012 by

Scott’s Story and the Election

H. M. Stuart
Alexandria

Tags: , , , ,

Posted in Ethics, Health & Health Care, Health Care Proposals, Nation, Politics

2 Responses to “Nicholas Kristof on the ACA/Obamacare”

  1. DADvocate says:
    October 19, 2012 at 6:58 pm

    Some mangled logic there. First, I’m wondering why he felt compelled to say, “To err is human, but so is to forgive” instead of “To err is human, to forgive is divine?” Does he have some anti-Christian/anti-religion agenda that he can’t let go for even a second, even it means saving the lives of people like his friend Scott. Second, if Scott’s received treatment and people in Scott’s shoes are receiving treatment, why is Obamacare so important? These people are getting treated and we still have the freedom we desire in our health care choices.

    First, a civilized society compensates for the human propensity to screw up. That’s why we have single-payer firefighters and police officers. That’s why we require seat belts. How far are we to go to subsidize screw ups? So far, I’ve screwed up plenty of times, but pulled myself out, although I never screwed up quite as big as Scott. My midlife crisis consisted of divorcing, remarrying, returning to college for a year to learn computer programming, having three kids and embarking on a new career. Where’s the line between supporting total irresponsibility and providing the social support someone my need to get through a tough time or crisis?

    Scott blew it. Scott seems to accept that fact. My brother blew it 25 years ago when, after leading a lifestyle of having unprotected sex with too many people of both genders, he became HIV positive, developed AIDS and died. (To his defense, he may not have been aware of the existence of HIV when he contracted it. But, multiple sex partners has always been risking on some level.) My brother didn’t say he blew it, he said, “I really fucked up this time.” He, too, realized his predicament was primarily of his making.

    Seems to me that Kristof is taking advantage of Scott’s misfortune in order to push his (Kristof’s) agenda. How much does Kristof really care? He’s probably a fairly wealthy guy. Did he contribute anything to Scott’s treatment? BTW – I’d be surprised if there wasn’t somewhere Scott could have gone and gotten a free prostate screening. The health department in Cincinnati does free screenings routinely. The excuse that Scott didn’t go to a doctor because of cost doesn’t hold up.

  2. steve2 says:
    October 19, 2012 at 10:54 pm

    1) Google free prostate screening. It is pretty hit and miss. They are usually sponsored events of very limited duration.

    2) The treatment, if positive, will usually not be available w/o insurance, unless you are already very sick. At that point it may be too late. (Single males below 65 are rarely eligible for Medicaid either.)

    Steve