Of Insurance and Health

Starting tomorrow, I will have insurance for the first time in years. And, knowing that I would now have insurance, the first thing I did was make an appointment with my doctor for Monday. It will definitely feel great to be able to go to the doctor for a checkup and to get preventative type appointments instead of just when something is wrong. Hopefully I will be able to prevent things from going wrong in the future!

Having lived as both uninsured and insured, I realize that health insurance isn't a right, isn't guaranteed, and is a personal choice whether or not to purchase. I have had medical attention when I needed it, either by paying a reduced fee through my clinic, having a trust at a local hospital that helped me - funded by those who had worked hard, earned high, and chose to help, or repayment over a long period of time. It can be done. My personal choices had led to not having insurance at times - but the key here is that they were my personal choices - my choice of careers, of employers, of how to spend my own money. That's what the US has always been about...

So on Monday I exercise my choice to go my own doctor, also of my choosing, to work on a healthier future - MY future. While I still have those choices.