a story about health care, no.1

A nurse told me today that one of his patient's was attempting to contract HIV from her HIV+ partner by having unprotected sex. She was getting checked monthly to see if she had contracted it. Why would anyone do this you ask? Like her partner, she wanted a case manager, free medications, psychiatry services, and health care as needed. She could not qualify for other free/cheap health care services, so she thought this was the best way to go.

This is not a norm and by no means anything logical to do. But this example to me was one of many that I'm seeing as to why we need some sort of national health care system. Too many peoples lives revolve around getting the proper medical care, especially those who are poor. I sometimes wonder how people's lives would be different if this were not a concern. Using this point, I think it would be a win-win situation for everyone. If we had national health care, the sick, many of whom are poor (if not most), would be taken care of, and they could translate this into being productive members of society. Sure it's not foolproof, but worth thinking about.