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$$$$$$$$$$

Big Business does not care about you.
Big Insurance does not care about you.
Big Pharma does not care about you.

The name of the game is make money.

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Imagine if we lived in a society that never heard of insurance. If you were sick and needed medicine, you went to a doctor, got a prescription, and paid for it. Businesses made profit— though not exorbitant, hand-over-fist profit— and found a way to live comfortably while doing good for the people.

Now pretend some guy gets an idea: create a position for a middle-man.

Convince the general population to make monthly payments to a middle-man for a piece of paper that allows them to receive care and medicine for a reasonable amount of money.

Convince the medical and pharmaceutical industries to go along with this. In fact, reveal to them the obscene profit to be had! It’s easy: charge people who don’t have this piece of paper a ridiculous amount of money. Meanwhile, those people who have the piece of paper— they’ll still be charged enough to make a profit, but it’s not noticeable because it’s so much cheaper for them. Because they have the piece of paper.

Allow the system to take root. Let it become an institution. People will forget what life was like before they had that piece of paper. And then start charging them progressively higher monthly fees. Don’t worry, med/pharm— charge them progressively more on your end, too. In fact, reject a few people here and there. What good is a product if it’s not a little exclusive? Exclusivity increases need. And need means $$$ in wallets. You can let the general public get in on it, too— convince them to call people without this piece of paper lazy or moochers.

Congratulations! You have just introduced a brand-new problem and devised its solution! See, it’s win-win!

That piece of paper needs a name, by the way. How about insurance?

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You’ll excuse me if I’m more than a little upset that I’m paying a ridiculous amount of money a month for the privilege of paying a ridiculous amount of money for service and med. It’s better than the alternative, I’m told.

I got some sort of bite or infection on my jaw/chin/neck. The ointment costs $15 if your copayment is under $50. If your copay exceeds $50, you pay the balance. Conveniently, my copay exceeds $50. Which means the ointment would cost me $175.

Pharm isn’t in the business of just giving away medicine. If they’re charging $15, it’s because they’re making an acceptable amount of profit at that price. Which means they’re making an even more acceptable profit (over 10x more acceptable!) when they charge you $175 instead of $15. Good for them.

I didn’t get the $175 ointment. Doc told me the samples should be enough since I’m on the rebound.

I haven’t shaved since last Sunday, when I first noticed the marks. I can’t shave for at least another week, and I don’t like facial hair (itchy). It’s too bad I don’t live in Portland.