week five Soc490

The question of whether we have control over our health is a very contradicting question. Anyone could make an argument to make it seem like we do have control, or that we don’t have control. I personally think that it goes both ways; in my eyes one argument isn’t stronger than the other.  Sure if you exercise regularly and eat healthy you will be healthier. Just because you do these things doesn’t mean you can’t catch a cold, have a genetic disorder, suffer from cancer, or even have some sort of mental disorder. 

There are just some things you can’t control, and that is how life works. One thing we can control though is the availability of health care to everyone; so if someone gets sick they can receive the health care they need. Gladwell asks, “Do you think that people whose genes predispose them to depression or cancer, or whose poverty complicates asthma or diabetes, or who get hit by a drunk driver, or who have to keep their mouths closed because their teeth are rotting ought to bear the greater share of the costs of their health care than those of us who are lucky enough to escape such misfortunes?”.

It seems a bit cruel to make healthcare unaffordable to these people, who could have received preventive care if everyone had healthcare and in return have less costs for health care. Helms exclaims, “what we all seem to want from health reform is a better system that will provide us with higher quality care and greater economic value”.  He also claims that an open-ended payment system will not accomplish this, because it would encourage abuse of the health care system.  This abuse is often referred to as moral hazard. 

Gladwell brings up a good point though, “people who are very well insured, who are very rich, do you see them check into the hospital because it’s free? Do people like to go to the doctor?”.  My answer to this question is no, I go to the doctor only if I feel it is very necessary because every time I go to the doctor I get a shot and that is not fun for me. I have also been in the hospital before and had to stay the night; that is an experience I’ll never forget and never want to experience again if I don’t have to.