![]() “დილა და როგორ გრძნობ თავს?” inquired our host, when Rich and I stumbled out of bed and down the stairs. We were in a farmhouse in the Republic of Georgia on the morning after a very long night involving wine, food, wine, dancing, wine, and more wine. Even if our host had been speaking English, I’m sure it would have sounded like “დილა და როგორ გრძნობ თავს?” to my befuddled ears. Assuming he was asking how we were feeling, I managed a sickly smile. Our “translator” used dramatic gestures and his eight words of English to convey that we’d feel much better after the traditional Georgian pick-me-up breakfast. This, I was aghast to discover, involved bowls of garlicy broth overflowing with entrails and various unspeakable animal parts. Cooked, thank heavens, but still . . . Luckily the grandfather was entitled to the choicest bits, so his was the portion with the whole cow’s hoof. When asked if I would like a glass of vodka with breakfast, I said “დიახ!” (Yes!”). These warmly hospitable Georgians were clients of ours in the 1990s, when Rich and I undertook a couple of three-month volunteer assignments to help develop much-needed strategies for revitalizing deteriorating hospitals and clinics. The transition from socialized medicine to private pay had turned out to be (surprise!) complicated. In those post-Soviet years, civil war, massive corruption, and economic crisis had left the infrastructure hanging by a frayed thread. Once-fine hospitals had no heat, food, or medicine; patients’ families provided all meals, blankets, and drugs — mostly outdated, black-market pharmaceuticals sold in booths near the hospital. I went there to buy capsules for a cold, but my clients advised instead a folk remedy made from quince fruit; it cured me in 24 hours. Home remedies come in all forms and degrees of efficacy, but when you’re seriously ill or injured, let’s face it, you want modern doctors and reliable pharmaceuticals. Which is why it’s so dismaying to learn that if the American Health Care Act (aka “Republicare”) manages to pass this month, next year 14 million Americans will be without healthcare coverage, and by 2026 that number will increase to 24 million. Ouch! “I don’t know how you could live, knowing that a single serious illness or injury could cost you everything you own,” a Spanish friend said to me. “I would be terrified.” Many of us are. The Affordable Care Act is far from perfect, but it’s a first step toward providing American citizens with health coverage that every other developed nation already considers a basic right of citizenship, like paved roads and police protection. This week the White House, seeking to drum up support for its new plan by throwing Obamacare even further under the bus, sent this email to millions of Americans: So I decided to tell the White House my Obamacare story. I wrote that I love the Affordable Care Act because it provided low-cost coverage for my brother Steve — a working man, a fine musician, and one of the kindest, funniest people I ever knew — during the final phases of his terminal cancer. No one in the family had to sell their house or take a second job to cover his six-figure medical bills. I know, that’s not a very dramatic story. But living through it really taught me what’s at stake. All UN member countries have agreed to try to achieve universal health coverage by the year 2030. If Republicare passes, the USA will once again be the only one of Earth’s thirty-three developed nations without it. At the heart of the proposed bill are flat tax credits that would leave most people — to use comedian John Oliver’s metaphor — as horrifically under-covered as a middle-aged man in an ill-fitting thong. (And no, I am NOT going to share his favorite graphic for this; you’ll just have to use your imagination.) The only clear winners in the plan are the wealthiest Americans, who would see tax breaks of between $33,000 and $197,000. I’m sure we all find it comforting to know that under this plan at least something in America would be healthier: the wallets of billionaires. I doubt that the White House is going to read or appreciate my response to their request for Obamacare disaster stories. But writing it made me pause and reflect on whether healthcare is a right or a privilege. Should medical treatment be reserved for those who can pay for it — a sort of Darwinian, survival-of-the-economic-fittest? I saw what happened in the Republic of Georgia in the 1990s; money allocated to hospitals wound up in the pockets of the rich and powerful, and bribing a doctor to ensure better treatment was routine. Is that what America is becoming? Or do we define healthcare as part of the community’s social contract, like roads, firefighters, and schools? The UN and thirty-two of the world's thirty-three developed nations say one thing; the new Republican plan says another. If Republicare is put into effect, that truly would be a healthcare disaster story. Several people have written lately to ask if it's OK to share my posts on social media. Yes, absolutely! In fact, I've added buttons at the upper left to make this easier. Share away. YOU MIGHT ALSO ENJOY
20 Comments
Mike Rose
3/17/2017 06:17:41 pm
Well said
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Karen McCann
3/17/2017 06:24:14 pm
Thanks, Mike!
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Dorothy Valerian
3/17/2017 07:07:26 pm
From your blog post to the ears of Paul Ryan. I wish.
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Karen McCann
3/18/2017 08:44:35 am
Somehow I don't think Mr. Ryan is going to listen to my logic, Dorothy. But perhaps some others will. We can always hope.
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Jean Nush Guerin
3/17/2017 07:07:49 pm
Very well said, Karen. Thanks for insight into collapse of the Georgian system as well as sharing your brother's and family's story.
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Karen McCann
3/18/2017 08:49:35 am
Thanks, Jean. I don't normally talk much about my family in my writing but hey, if I was willing to share Steve's story with the White House, I figured I could also share it in the more congenial environment of my blog. As for Georgia, our time there was pretty wild, although I have to say no wilder than the times we're living through now.
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I really enjoyed the article Karen,... astounding photos! Wow! Thanks for sharing.
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Karen McCann
3/18/2017 08:59:29 am
Glad you liked the post, Steve. And I'm glad that you, too, wrote to the White House with your story. It's up to each of us to remind our representatives that without universal health coverage we are all at risk. The UN says that every year 100 million people are pushed into poverty and 150 million people suffer financial catastrophe because of out-of-pocket expenditure on health services. A scary thought in these uncertain times.
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3/17/2017 08:13:27 pm
Asa practicing physician in the US, I can assure you that we are on the road to Georgian level facilities and care if we continue on the current course with the failing so-called Affordable Care Act. The solutions presented are not draconian and are the CBO predictions have been way off on predicting how much the current mess would cost. Do not despair with change in a currently flawed situation, but I see it on the front line as being a plan that is doomed without some serious change in course.
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Karen McCann
3/18/2017 09:17:26 am
I appreciate your perspective and agree the Affordable Care Act needs lots of improvement. I would love to see it fixed or replaced with something better. Like you, I love my country, and want the best possible healthcare for all our citizens. And I truly wish that I could share your optimism that the proposed plan would be a step in that direction.
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3/17/2017 10:26:31 pm
Karen, I enjoyed your books. However, your posts are taking a political turn lately. I am one of the millions of voters who voted for Donald Trump after losing any trust in the Obama administration. We lost trust in the IRS, the Department of Justice, the FBI, the CIA, and NSA. I watched the debates on NAFTA and we have seen the devastating results for our country. I know firsthand of the total destruction of the textile industry in the South. You can hardly find a product that doesn't say MADE IN CHINA and that has been a fact for many years. Factories and jobs have left the country.
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Nancy L Solak
3/18/2017 03:25:59 am
Genie McCoy,
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B. Murphy
3/20/2017 04:40:02 pm
This is a good read with another perspective to your own personal one about FCA. http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2017/03/what_african_airports_taught_me_about_obamacare.html 3/18/2017 07:06:28 am
While I am not advocating elimination of Obamacare, I am advocating the need for making it Affordable as the title of the Act claimed. Thankfully Joel is on Medicare now -- with a Part B payment of just under $200 a month. Prior to ACA our healthcare premiums were $550 for major medical with a large deductible for the two of us. Since Obamacare my deductible is $5,000 and my monthly premium is $719. In applying for our entry visa to Greece the Consul looked at my medical coverage and said, "It appears you pay a lot and get nothing." Yep, that pretty much is it. It would be nice if the R's and D's put politics aside for a bit and really did come up with a plan for Affordable Health Care.
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Karen McCann
3/18/2017 09:28:53 am
You're so right, Jackie. Wouldn't it be great if politicians on both sides of the aisle could get together and come up with a plan that really worked — for everybody? I'm glad Joel now has Medicare — a single-payer, national social insurance program administered by the US federal government since 1966. Let's hope the current administration doesn't decide to repeal that any time soon!
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Sandra Kuns
3/18/2017 10:57:56 am
I agree it would be best to leave three common topics that cause emotional distress for many readers out of your blog. That would be political opinions, religion and sex. Otherwise I really enjoy your blogs Karen. Happy travel writing!
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Steve McC
3/19/2017 06:07:35 pm
I agree that you nailed the 3 topics that should not be included in regular conversations. I am teetering on how to respond to in this new world. I think I am failing on the politically correct register. I can't help but be concerned for the future.
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Sage
3/20/2017 09:59:30 pm
Sandra, I have to disagree. In the current climate of political turmoil, I think it is nearly impossible, if not irresponsible, to maintain an appearance of neutrality. We have entered into a realm where people are attempting to redefine TRUTH (didn't we all used to agree we knew what that was?) and to challenge the basic tenets of the US Constitution. Finding common ground is imperative, but so is calling a spade a spade.
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Dom
4/1/2017 06:43:43 am
Very interesting Karen, and sorry to hear of you losing your brother.
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Karen McCann
4/1/2017 08:09:58 am
Thanks so much for your kind words about my brother and for your many insights about universal health care. It is terrifying for so many in my country to think that a single accident or illness could cause medical bankruptcy. And it's incredible to me that the conservatives are still fighting bitterly maintain America's status as the only developed nation without universal coverage. I hope you are right and that the US will eventually come around to accepting it.
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Winner of the 2023 Firebird Book Award for Travel
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This blog is a promotion-free zone. As my regular readers know, I never get free or discounted goods or services for mentioning anything on this blog (or anywhere else). I only write about things that interest me and that I believe might prove useful for you all to know about. Whew! I wanted to clear that up before we went any further. Thanks for listening. TO I'm an American travel writer based in Seville, Spain.
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