A family member is in need of a heart transplant. He has health insurance (Thank you President Obama). However, it is not great. Far from comprehensive. As I write this, we are seeing if he qualifies.

This family member has had a job for over twenty-five years. He is a member of society, pays taxes and contributes to services he will not use. Good health insurance was out of his price range.

They are a perfect example of why we need universal healthcare. Because if he had good insurance then they could have preventative interventions. (Treatment for sleep apnea, etc). My family member resisted going to the doctor. They couldn’t afford it many years ago. They almost died of cancer. Now, he got a blood clot that caused heart attacks. He hesitated to go in because of the cost.

If they would have healthcare, they would not be where they are today. Money is going to be taken from all of us. Whether is higher premiums or higher hospital bills.

We should spend our money wisely. Good medical care prevents (often) more serious and more expensive hospital stays.  We come out ahead.

The same day, my family member went to the emergency room, I was listening to a conservative person talking about how homeless people get offered to be put on Medicaid. They get it for doing nothing.

Is there value in working towards things instead of being given them? Yes? But it still comes down to having interventions before the costly hospital stays happen.  A homeless person who has a heart attack will still get treated. The money will still be spent.

And I do not believe we can judge. Make the determination that someone does not deserve to be treated like fellow human beings. Homeless people blow chances. They get a free meal and then do drugs.

But I am willing to bet that there has been trauma there.  Life has taught them harmful, self-destructive behaviors. Yes, you had hardships and traumas and you overcame them. You are strong and should be proud. However, it is also partly luck. Fate intervened. God intervened. I don’t disbelieve this.

But once you have given up is hard to stop giving up.

Trauma changes the brains of children. It has long lasting effects. So who gets to be the arbiter of deserving and non deserving. Tough love can work, but for it to work, people have to have health, security, and good mental health.

We are not a nation that points at someone and decides, Okay, go ahead and die. You should have made better choices. So let’s apply our values uniformly. Let’s use our resources better. And by providing services, they still may fail. They may continue to hurt themselves and waste our resources. But from what I know, suffering and punishment does not work.

Let’s move forward. There are no easy answers.