Immoral Choices

R. Neal shares an anecdote:

The Mrs. was at the drug store picking up a prescription for me yesterday (thanks!) and there was a woman in front of her with six prescriptions to fill. The clerk was going over the cost of each prescription with her, so she could decide which ones she would have filled. She couldn’t afford to pay for having them all filled.

It is immoral and just plain wrong that anyone in America has to make decisions like this. Yet millions do every day.

See the full post for a short term solution for the problem.

permalink | Uncategorized |

26 Responses to ' Immoral Choices '

Subscribe to comments with RSS or TrackBack to ' Immoral Choices '.

1. Bob K said,
   
   

   on January 29th, 2008 at 3:30 pm

   So obviously Mr. Neal, being the good samaritan he is, stepped up and offered to buy for her the ones she didn’t buy herself.

2. Mickey said,
   
   

   on January 29th, 2008 at 3:37 pm

   No Bob, He is offering you and me to do it.

3. Captain Bringdown said,
   
   

   on January 29th, 2008 at 3:37 pm

   It never suprises me how people like BOB totally miss the point. Bet he teaches Sunday School,too!

4. Bob K said,
   
   

   on January 29th, 2008 at 3:42 pm

   Troll, I don’t. But if I did, what would that have to do with anything? Is it moral for me or you to play robin hood?

5. GoldnI said,
   
   

   on January 29th, 2008 at 3:47 pm

   So Bob, what happens next time when there’s not a Good Samaritan in line with her?

6. Brass Ass said,
   
   

   on January 29th, 2008 at 3:53 pm

   By God Bob’s right. If they can’t afford their medicine they ought not be among us Jesus-loving affluent blogger-types who have the luxury of spending all day on a Web site.

7. Bob K said,
   
   

   on January 29th, 2008 at 4:00 pm

   Goldie,
   What else would you like the taxpayers to provide? Food? Shelter? Oh wait, we already do that. But guess what, we only provide the bare minimum. Society can’t afford to give you everything you want or need. I know that it’s cliche, but if you think health care is expensive now, wait until the government provides it. You really think that the people who brought you $400 hammers are going to help to actually reduce costs? They aren’t; they will make it worse. Here’s who you have to depend on: yourself, your family, your church, and charity. In that order. The government isn’t going to help without making something else even worse. Life isn’t fair. Sorry. Get used to it.

   Ass, . . . enough said.

8. Mickey said,
   
   

   on January 29th, 2008 at 4:00 pm

   Bob, I guess the lady in line should have pulled a gun and made the other person pay it…. no wait thats the GOVERNMENTS job. Still it is wrong.

9. Jay said,
   
   

   on January 29th, 2008 at 4:03 pm

   I don’t understand why people feel they are entitled to buy things they can’t afford. There are lots of thing I can’t buy, because I haven’t earned enough money to buy them. That’s life. Wear a helmet.

10. Captain Bringdown said,
    
    

    on January 29th, 2008 at 4:04 pm

    TROLL!!!My God,that flat out hurts my feelings.
    Like I said,Bob-O,you miss the point.It plumb evades ya!

11. GoldnI said,
    
    

    on January 29th, 2008 at 4:12 pm

    Bob, you still didn’t answer the question. What happens when the safety net isn’t there, when the families can’t afford it either and the aid from churches and charities can only go so far?

    And Jay, I think you just disproved any notion that conservatives are truly “pro-life” with that statement. You value “the culture of life”, but only for those who can afford it.

12. Captain Bringdown said,
    
    

    on January 29th, 2008 at 4:26 pm

    Goldi,he does not care. In all his GOP flavored,God fearing,family values soul,he could care less.Let someone else deal with it,just don’t bother his net worth!

13. JB said,
    
    

    on January 29th, 2008 at 4:32 pm

    What happens when the safety net isn’t there, when the families can’t afford it either and the aid from churches and charities can only go so far?

    If this lady truly needs six different prescriptions in order to continue living, she needs to prioritize her spending and budget accordingly. Prescription drugs aren’t cheap and there’s many people who have to sacrifice in order to afford them.

14. brittney said,
    
    

    on January 29th, 2008 at 4:52 pm

    Mr. Neal was not there to pay. His wife was.

    Reading is fundamental, people, they weren’t lying about that.

15. Martin Kennedy said,
    
    

    on January 29th, 2008 at 4:59 pm

    This back and forth seems to have gotten a bit too trite. I think most conservatives do not want to see people die or endure unnecessary pain for want of a few bucks. Most conservatives are not libertarians. I don’t think most liberals want to buy everything for everyone (some do it seems). There are differences of course… Who, primarily, is responsible for your health and well-being? If you need help how should society extend aid as efficiently as possible?

16. dan t said,
    
    

    on January 29th, 2008 at 5:00 pm

    I wonder if that lady looked into Wal Marts $4 prescriptions or one of these other discount programs at other pharmacies? The problem with Mr Neal and other libs is the first thing they do when they see a problem is immediately look to a bunch of pols in DC who dont even know that they exist for help instead of trying to solve the problem themselves. It reminds me of something I saw on MSNBC….after Katrina hit. David Shuster was in Biloxi and he interviewed some Kevin Federline wanna be who started waving his hands up and down yelling yo wheres Bush at. He needs to get down here and get us out of here. It never crossed that guys mind that he could have gotten his own self out of there without depending upon the government to come to his rescue.

17. Sam Jackson said,
    
    

    on January 29th, 2008 at 5:09 pm

    I think most conservatives do not want to see people die or endure unnecessary pain for want of a few bucks.

    Yes, they deserve to die and I hope they burn in hell.

18. Phyllis from Mulga said,
    
    

    on January 29th, 2008 at 5:46 pm

    It amazes me that people like Captain Bringdown, GoldnI and Brass Ass still think government is the solution. You do realize, don’t you, that your first experiment in socialized medicine (Medicare) is the sole cause of our health care crisis? Before Medicare, there were no hospital corporations and health care wasn’t the big business that it is today. Why? Because it was charity and not a profitable enterprise. The guaranteed payments promised by the government, though, provided the reliable income stream needed to attract investors. But, since the government and not consumers were paying for it, there haven’t been any market forces to contain costs. That is why have such absurdly high medical inflation and why this poor woman now can’t afford her drugs. You did this to her. Your way of “caring” costs not only dollars, but lives.

19. GoldnI said,
    
    

    on January 29th, 2008 at 6:34 pm

    This whole thread just saddens me. Phyllis, Bob, Dan, Jay…I hope and pray none of you will ever have to be in a situation where you’re forced to rely on someone else to get your basic necessities. Because by your own logic, it’ll be your own fault if that happens.

20. Bob K said,
    
    

    on January 29th, 2008 at 6:46 pm

    Goldie, Pray that you don’t ever need it because I’m taking care of me and my own family, thank you very much.

    Things happen, however, and there are those rare conditions that create astronomical costs for a few. That’s why you have insurance: to cover catastrophes. Not to pay for routine care. If you expected the same of your car insurance, we’d all be driving expensive cars with all the options and driving as much as we want. Since someone else was paying the bill, there’d be no competitive pressure holding down costs, so they would escalate out of control. There is no such thing as free health care–and there never will be. Free is far too expensive.

21. Phyllis from Mulga said,
    
    

    on January 29th, 2008 at 7:14 pm

    GoldnI, it was socialized medicine that made this woman dependent in first place. You didn’t even try to refute that point. And, before you even go there, no, I’m not saying that we need to eliminate Medicare. You can’t put that genie back in the bottle. But, we ain’t gonna fix the problems it has caused by moving even further down the socialized medicine road.

    It won’t be an overnight cure, but the only way to permanently fix the health care crisis is cost containment. Now, there are two ways to achieve that goal. One, government-mandated price controls which would kill R&D while also eroding efficiency. Or, two, we can empower individuals by bringing market-based choice into the system. Eliminate the business tax deduction for providing group insurance and allow individuals to deduct premiums they pay instead. And make that deduction above the line so folks who don’t itemize, the folks most likely to be without insurance, can claim it. If they don’t owe any income tax, let ‘em take it off their FICA taxes. That way everyone is included. When people are responsible for paying for their own health care, costs will decrease and this woman would be able to pay for her meds. For the few who can’t afford this necessity of life, treat it just like we do food and shelter. Have a very limited food-stamp style system. Why is this so hard for you to understand?

22. Jay said,
    
    

    on January 29th, 2008 at 7:34 pm

    GoldnI,

    Yes. It will be my fault for not having the foresight to provide for myself and my family. And absolutely no one else’s responsibility other than my own. That was the burden I accepted when I started a family. Happily.

23. Fish said,
    
    

    on January 29th, 2008 at 9:59 pm

    Phyllis: Medicare did not cause the out of control medical costs in this country. Several things did, but none of them are Medicare.

    Here’s a few that come to mind:

    -The 1971 Health Maintenance Organization (HMO) system begins with Nixon and Ehrlichmann endorsing Ed Kaiser’s Permanente company. White House tapes between Ehrlichman reveals that from the outset HMOs strived to provide bare minimum care and deny as many claims as possible. On tape the President admits profits are the point and health care is secondary. Keep in mind this was the beginning in the seventies, before other factors made health care costs worse!

    -Later in the 1970s, during the Jimmy Carter administration, under advice from deregulation guru Alfred Kahn (sadly a professor emeritus from my alma mater), the FDA lifts a ban on “DTC” or Direct to Consumer (i.e. TV, radio, etc.). This opened the floodgates to demand-based and consumer-driven pharmaceutical expenses. Patients for the first time are asking doctors for drugs, rather than doctors telling patients what they need. Drugs that cure deadly but non-profitable diseases like malaria are not highly developed, while there are hundreds of versions of pills for erectile dysfunction

    -Health lawsuits drive up malpractice costs which are passed on to consumers through the insurance companies

    -In the 90s, as people lose their jobs and thus insurance, Hospitals lose money on UNINSURED patients who default on bills, not the medicare and medicaid patients.

    History is your friend!
    ————————
    The US health system is broken guys. We may disagree on how to fix it, but by saying everything is peachy you’re just lying to yourselves.

24. Captain Bringdown said,
    
    

    on January 30th, 2008 at 5:39 am

    It is Gordon Gecko style greed that makes this “women” dependant,not socialized medicine.Spin it any way you wish,it all reverts back to ones own greed and indifference.The concept of “he who has the most WINS” is the greatest danger our society has.The fact that a person can live in the wealthiest country and do without that which is necessary for “LIFE,LIBERTY,AND THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS” is without a doubt unamerican,immoral,and not very christian.This must go beyond weak political rhetoric and anti-government bias!

    And Bob-O,wasn’t Robin Hood a good guy?

25. R. Neal said,
    
    

    on January 30th, 2008 at 5:48 am

    DanT: The problem with Mr Neal and other libs is the first thing they do when they see a problem is immediately look to a bunch of pols in DC who dont even know that they exist for help instead of trying to solve the problem themselves.

    DanT obviously didn’t read the post. One of the points was to bring your attention to a market based for profit prescription drug program that is free and available to anyone and can offer substantial savings.

    I always thought conservatives were thrifty types who like to save money so they can have more to provide a better life for their families.

    Guess not.

    Guess they’d rather let their paternalistic bosses provide them free health care and pay exorbitant prices for it. Corporations ought to provide food, clothing, and shelter too, available for selection by employees from a menu plan of preferred vendor programs.

26. dwayne said,
    
    

    on January 30th, 2008 at 8:50 am

    So fthe right wingers here think it’s perfectly fine to use the government to finance unnecessary wars, to give billions away annual to pork barrel spending projects, and to give billions in tax breaks to rich people who could live fine without it but not to create even a modest system where individuals could purchase affordable prescriptions from generics or even from foreign made drugs. As it is now, the big drug companies have Bush and company in their back pockets. Many of the drugs sold under their brand names are made at a fraction of the cost in foreign countries (primarily India) and sold here at obscene profits. These right wingers here are evidently thsoe who have never had a health care crisis in their own families.

Leave a reply