Words that caught me: C-O-B is for 'Chains of Bondage'

 

Let’s face it.

We, as a society,

Are staring at one huge tragedy,

That we seem unready and unwilling to address.

 

And that’s medical costs.

 

Is there anyone reading this,

Who has not come face to face,

Or, knows someone who is currently struggling,

With a mammoth and debilitating medical bill?

 

Is there anyone in your living memory,

Who has not paused or hesitated,

To consider whether they can afford

The cost of a serious illness?

 

How many people do you know,

That are, right now, wallowing in treatable pain,

Simply because they can’t afford treatment?

 

Can we seriously deny the obvious –

That the cost of medical care has been rising steadily,

And that, medical debt, is slowly, but surely,

Becoming the biggest contributor to impoverishment?

 

Can we seriously deny, that we do not know,

That preventive medicine is the answer to these rising costs?

 

Can we seriously deny,

That we continue to neglect,

And under-invest, in preventive medical care?

 

And, can we seriously deny,

That we continue to postpone and avoid,

Having this conversation?

 

Here is a conundrum each of us needs to contemplate.

What’s the point of ‘progress’ and ‘development’,

If we can’t access it, when we need it most?

 

Why, for heaven’s sake,

With all the advances in science and technology,

Are medical costs causing so much misery?

 

How is it that something, so essential to the wellbeing of society,

And to life itself,

Has become so expensive, unaffordable,

And inaccessible, to so many?

 

Undoubtedly, the answers to these questions lead directly,

To what is wrong with our current system.

 

The Spirit of our government and our institutions -

Nay, their raison d’etre –

Should and must be, to elevate the people.

 

If this is true,

We must, then, begin to ask,

Why that spirit has turned sharply,

In the opposite direction.

 

“If we familiarize ourselves with the chains of bondage,

We prepare our own limbs to wear them.’

*This post has been inspired by personal experience and reflection. Did you know that medical debt is the number one cause of bankruptcy worldwide? Google it. It's critical that we all become familiar with the seriousness of this situation, and take remedial action. And yes, don't fool yourself. None of us is immune from its effects.