Cancer and the Stars – Focusing on the Dollars and Cents of Healthcare
The business world methodically concentrates on numbers, creating revenue, and attracting new clients. When health care is your business, you should remember to take a step back from the “time to make the donuts” mentality and consider the other side of your company (i.e., the human side). Although the iconic Dunkin’ Donuts advertisement featuring Fred the Baker was a catchy way to sell a morning treat with your coffee, too much of this “by the numbers” assembly line attitude permeates our current health care system. If President Obama and the Democratic leaders in the United States House and Senate proceed with their plans, government could simply be replacing the business bean counters and creating new areas of patient concern.
Day after day, we at Peoples Health Insurance focus on the importance of health care and how to reach millions of uninsured Floridians. We take pride in our easy to use Web site and feel confident that the quality of information you will find is an asset when searching for a Florida Health Insurance quote. However, I have recently found myself looking at the other side of the insurance industry. That is, a noticeably growing number of people have become ill and are in the throws of a life changing medical development. As an aging Baby Boomer myself, I am certain that others have made this observation. More troublesome, are the ghoulish stories featuring the icons of our era (like Farrah Fawcett) as headliners on the evening news retorting the facts of their deadly condition. This only serves to heighten our anxiety about our own mortality.
The grim reality is that even larger-than-life Hollywood heavyweights, who somehow appear to be untouchable, are subject to the same ailments that all Americans face. Their glamorously led lifestyles and financial success is not enough to ward off real, serious, and fatal illnesses such as cancer. Paul Newman for example died in September of 2008 after a long battle with cancer; Patrick Swayze is currently fighting pancreatic cancer; more recently, Farrah Fawcett has appeared in the media with updates on her brush with anal cancer, which has brought new attention to this rarely discussed disease.
As we all know, purchasing a Florida Medical Insurance plan is designed to defray the financial costs of fighting disease and illness. For wealthy celebrities, they are blessed with a certain amount of added financial backing that can be used to enhance their treatment, especially in the event that their health insurance policy contains coverage gaps. For those of us who are mere mortals, the reality of a serious illness would mean financial devastation without some form of quality coverage. Nevertheless, no matter whom you are or your status in the world, at some point you will realize that you can no longer extend your life any farther. As I watch Farrah Fawcett struggle, I cannot seem to clear this thought from my mind.
Sickness and dying are subjects that most Americans would rather not discuss. After all, we get up in the morning and look forward to the day. Just as easy, we could consider that same day as just one closer to our own demise! As the health care debates continues to rage in Washington, DC, we should demand that our legislators and business leaders remember what they are debating; the future of an industry that touches the lives of everyone in our country. Somehow, we should all strive to keep the human side of the debate on the table as we carve up the numbers to determine who wins and who loses in the warfare called health care reform.