Vaccine or Flu?

So this may seem like a pointless post but it was something that was recently on my mind and that is flu vaccines. I had done a good job of avoiding getting mine because I hate shots but over break my mom dragged me to CVS to get one stating it was better to get the vaccine then to get the flu. While there I found out the vaccine was not covered under my insurance so it was a thirty dollar cost. I am sure that to some people, including me as a college student, thirty dollars is expensive for a shot but then I thought of the other side-getting the flu and possibly ending up in the hospital-that would cost a lot more than thirty dollars. Also there are places people can go to get the shot for free if they are willing to do some research and possibly wait a while. The flu is no laughing matter and a lot of times people end up in the hospital with it, and this can be avoided.
For people that don't have insurance I think they should be the first ones in line for the vaccines. When it comes to accidents or pre-existing conditions sometimes a trip to the hospital can't be helped but when it comes to getting the flu that can be prevented and with the high hospital costs I am sure they also want to prevent it. So sure getting shots stinks, and it makes your arm sore the next day but it is still way better then the alternative of getting the flu.

Go Get Your Flu Shot!! :)

Will Republican victory mean a loss for health care reform?

Following the mid-term election results that took place on Tuesday November, 2nd the Republican's victory caused a lot of stir about which direction the state will now go in. According the The Monkey Cage  the two main things they will be focusing on is keeping Obama from getting elected for a second term and repealing the healthcare reform that he has started to put into motion. This to me seems like a step backwards. How can our country makes strides if changes can be repealed as soon as a different party takes control? Also something interesting about this article was that it showed that just because Republicans generally are more against health care reform that does not mean repealing it is going to be a winning issue for them. Rather it seems that the majority of the republican population supports bits and pieces of the bill and would be unhappy with repealing it in its entirety but want parts of it to be taken out. A large majority support the parts of the bill that includes providing more financial support for people to purchase health insurance, keeping the increased Medicare payroll tax, and keeping the coverage for pre-existing conditions (thanks Republicans I appreciate the support :) ), the only thing that the majority of them want is for the mandate to purchase health care to be taken out.
This won't be a simple issue for the Republicans in office to put into action however, because obviously insurance companies are a fan of the mandate so if the Republicans only fight to take out the health care mandate they will be making an enemy of insurance companies. The leaders are going to have to walk a tight rope when choosing what action they want to take against health care. Either decision is going to upset some people. What do you think should be done?

Rise in Smoking-Should Health Care Cover This

Hey everyone! 
So I know I usually post on Sunday but I wanted to get a head start this weekend plus I had an idea about a topic. I am not a smoker and never have been. My mom's dad died when she was 11 from lung cancer so she always made it clear to me and my sisters that if she ever found out we smoked she would kill us faster then the cancer could. Lately though I have noticed that I am becoming the minority in my friends that don't smoke. More and more of them are lighting up to deal with stress, because they are drinking 'and only smoke when they drink', or just because it started out of habit and became an addiction. It seems that everywhere I go on campus students are smoking, do they not realize the consequences they could be causing to their lungs? I found an article that showed that one third of college students are smoking. The percentage of smoking teens is up from 28% in 1997 to 33% today. Although this is not a drastic increase it does show that the amount of teens smoking is going up. 
The reason I thought to post about this is because earlier I blogged about if things like eating disorders should be covered and now I am wondering if insurance companies should be required to cover the medical expenses people get from smoking. I mean the cigarette companies explain on each pack that smoking leads to cancer so when people decide to light up shouldn't they take responsibility for the consequences? I mean it doesn't seem fair that companies could not cover someone born with a disease they did nothing to cause but will cover chemo treatments for people who decided to smoke a pack a day. I do know that some employers require that their employees don't smoke as a way to help with their insurance prices, but like I said it doesn't seem fair that people with chronic diseases they have had since birth, or did nothing to deserve have to pay a higher price then people who may have caused their problems. What do you think? 

Election Day Poll

On Tuesday November 2nd 2010 my Public Opinion class carried out an Election Day Poll that we had created in class. This was a really great experience to be a part of the political process and hand out the poll to varies people on campus. I gave 10 people the poll and our class had a total of 212 people take the poll which is great. In terms of my topic health care question 17 asked people their opinion about health care reform. The results were that 26 strong favored it, 62 favored it, 42 opposed it, 23 strongly opposed it, 31 had no opinion, and 27 were unsure. This just reminded me again that health care reform is such a split topic. Some else I noticed from the results was that when it came to the open ended questions most people left the space blank. We discussed in class that it is important to have open ended questions so that people don't feel like they are limited in their options, but what is the point if people are just going to leave it blank? How do you think you can create open ended questions that people actually answer? Is it just that people taking polls are just lazy or do they actually have no opinion? Let me know what you think.

Comparison of Health Care

Hey Everyone!
Hope you all had a fun Halloween weekend.
For this blog I wanted to discuss some of my findings when I compared the United States health care system with that of Germany and England. America is the only developed country without universal health care which I thought was interesting so I wanted to look into the other countries systems. Germany is known for having one of the best health care systems, because everyone is covered as well as having good quality but the downfall is that this system is expensive and will eventually not be able to persist. England on the other hand also covers everyone however the system has it faults in that it takes a long time to receive treatment as well as the quality of care is not as great. America does not cover all citizens however what we lack in availability we make up for in quality. After researching this topic is seems that every health care system has its faults and it seems to be a trade off of availability and quality. Which do you think is more important? Do you think it is possible to have both?

Health care reform may not be good for the nation, but it is good for me so I approve!

So even though I have very strong opinions on certain topics (including health care) I still try very hard to see everybody's point of view. I think that this is something that makes me easier to get along with in that even if I don't share the same opinions of a person I can still get a long with them as long as they can provide a valid argument as to why they hold that view point...."just because" does not qualify as a reason for me. It is because of this that I enjoyed looking at a recent poll on PollingReport.com in which they asked respondents their opinion on health care reform and if it was going to make things worse or better for them and their family as well as the country as a whole. The reason I found this poll interesting was that in both cases people seemed to think that health care reform would be better for them personally a higher number thought it would be better for the country as a whole. This makes me think that one of the things behind health care reform is individuals looking out for themselves. This shouldn't be surprising because that is just the way people are....we look out for #1 ourselves! I think that people need to try and take a step back and look at the bigger picture and realize that sometimes in order to help society as a whole....they may have to suffer a little. They will just have to decide if health care is worth the price....I personally think it is, however I am a person who would benefit.

Should Health Insurance Cover Eating Disorders??

So this weekend my roommate and her sister were getting into a heated discussion regarding disease types like eating disorders and alcoholism and whether these things are actually considered diseases or weaknesses. I think it is fairly clear, or at least to me, that clear cut diseases such as MS, Parkinson's, Type I Diabetes, kidney disease, and other chronic diseases should be covered through medical insurance because these people have not done anything to cause these diseases and they should not be punished because of things they were born with. The argument that my roommate and her sister were having is that my roommate as well as I see these diseases as not being in the person's control and should be covered through health insurance. Her sister believes that things such as eating disorders and mental illness are weaknesses and personal choices that people make. For example she believes that alcoholics have the choice wether or not to drink and they are simply being weak and therefore health care companies should not be required to cover their illness.

I have mental health issues that have run through my family so I again don't have an unbiased opinion on the matter and I don't see things such as eating disorders and mental illness as a choice and therefore should be covered by health insurance. I think these illnesses fall under the same category of "pre-existing" conditions and therefore they should not be able to be prejudice against when seeking insurance. I think that sometimes people overestimate the power people have over their brain and therefore I don't see it as a weakness. I was look at a website discussing health care issues which gave me more insight into eating disorders and how people who suffer from these already have enough struggles and don't need to have the added pressure of trying to find insurance. What are your thoughts on the topic? Do you consider these illness, diseases or weaknesses??