Dear Mr. President:

During my shift in the Emergency Room last night, I had the pleasure of evaluating a patient whose smile revealed an expensive Shiny gold tooth, whose body was adorned with a wide assortment of elaborate and costly tattoos, who wore a very expensive Brand of tennis shoes and who chatted on a new cellular telephone equipped with a popular R&B ringtone.



While glancing over her Patient chart, I happened to notice that her payer status was listed as "Medic...aid"! During my examination of her, the patient informed me that she smokes more than one costly pack of cigarettes every day and somehow still has money to buy pretzels and beer.

And, you and our Congress expect me to pay for this woman's health care?

I contend that our nation's "health care crisis" is not the result of a shortage of quality hospitals, doctors or nurses. Rather, it is the result of a "crisis of culture", a culture in which it is perfectly acceptable to spend money on luxuries and vices while refusing to take care of one's self or, heaven forbid, purchase health insurance.

It is a culture based on the irresponsible credo that "I can do whatever I want to because someone else will always take care of me". Once you fix this "culture crisis" that rewards irresponsibility and dependency, you'll be amazed at how quickly our nation's health care difficulties will disappear.

Respectfully,
STARNER JONES, MD

This letter is almost a true story but has been edited from the original version that appeared as a letter to the editor published in 2009 in the Jackson Mississippi Clarion Ledger.

Anyway, you could take his argument a bit further and say:

Anybody who is overweight and smokes is costing me money. It doesn't matter if they are covered by Medicaid or covered by Blue Cross Blue Shield....you are costing me money.

It may be in the form of taxes I pay or in the rising cost of my health care premiums, but you are costing me money.

Unfortunately the is no "fix" for this type of culture. They are now the voting majority.

S'up Mr. O?...


Hi Alle!!

Hello sweety, I'm just hangin..

There will never be a fix as people won't take responsibility.

Or birth control!!

The majority of people only tend to take responsibility where there are consequences for NOT taking responsibility.

Unfortunately, we have been molded into a culture that’s majority population are unwilling to allow someone to suffer the consequences of their own ignorance and neglect.

Let me clarify.

In my own case I have ss early due to kidney failure. But as I wait away the years on dialysis waiting on a kidney transplant, I am taking action so I can support myself once more after the transplant. At my age, and with all my sickness, I am about to graduate. If I can do it with my obstacles, so can everyone else. There are very few who cannot if they try.

and with the Leftist Media Propaganda, there is no fix.

You're awsome!

I'm just an average human being who takes responsibility for himself.

Another thing I would add is that this ER Doctor should not have known the patients "payer status". He should be treating the patient without prejudice.

I happen to know an ER Doc and ER Nurse and they both say that in Arizona, they have no idea what a patients "payer status" is.

I would also think that this doctor has set himself up for malpractice claims. If any patient of his has any complications due to treatment, they could sue based on his previous comments about how he feels about treating medicaid patients.

The doctor is an idiot.

Drs are human and have the right to express their opinions.

No person was named and 10 to one, on any given day or night you will find a tattooed, bling flashing, gold toothed, i-phone totin', cigar smokin', ghetto ho getting free treatment in most major cities in these here United States.

the DR is not an idiot. I agree with him. he did not say he objected treating patient's on medicaid. he objects to people who do not take care of their health and then expect hardworking middle class citizens (who are barely making ends meet anyway0 have to absorb their costs thru higher premiums.

I agree...I think their needs to be a benefit downgrade for those who smoke or refuse to excersize regularly. then they won't be able to afford smart phones and tatoos