Health Care

We have a new president, and like it or not, we need to stand together as a nation. I do believe that. But I have to rant for a minute about a political subject that has been driving me nuts. (Short drive, as my dad would say)

I truly am sick of Americans clamoring for national health care without reflecting on what that really means.

Have you ever lived in a country with free health care? I have, and I would NEVER want to be hospitalized in that environment... One might as well go to a witch doctor.

Do they think if it's all free, the standard of care is going to stay as high as it is? Do they even understand how it's going to be paid for? Our public education is paid for by taxes, and is "free", and I constantly hear about how the standards aren't good enough, our children are failing, classes are overcrowded, etc. How can you think that public health care would be any different?

Yes, we have people dying because they can't get care, but we have a HIGHER OVERALL SURVIVAL rate because of the QUALITY of our care.

Here's what I'd like to see: The addition of net new health care centers that are tax-funded and available to those without insurance. I'd like to see our current system survive, so that I can continue to get care that doesn't involve not enough medicine, not enough people, rooms with 16 beds in them, and hand-me-down x-rays that will give me cancer because the clinic can't afford lead shielding.

Don't drag my health down with you.

Ripped off by BYU

I am LIVID. As I hunt for a home of my own, my alma mater has decided that they want to ruin my chances for no apparent reason other than laziness.

In early December, I got a letter from a collections agency. BYU had decided that I owed $80 for something. Instead of attempting to contact me, they sent it straight to a collection agency! Sure this must be a mistake, I called them, but the company gave me a bureaucratic run-around, and I never got to talk to anyone. Then I started calling BYU.

After about 5 phone calls, I learned that the sport jacket I had checked out from Performing Arts Management for a Vocal Point tour was never returned. I called my VP director, and we sorted out that he had it, he contacted them, and everything was supposed to be fine.

A few days later, I noticed that the account had not been cleared, so I started making phone calls again. I contacted PAM (performing arts) and the lady there said she had called it in to financial services, but she'd check again. She called me back later saying she had gotten hold of them and it was all cleared. That night, I got an automated email from BYU saying the debt had been cleared.

The next day, I got another automated email, and the debt was back! I started making calls. 4 phone calls later, the student working at Financial Services told me that the person in charge of this sort of thing wasn't there, but there was some kind of glitch that had put the debt back on. They'd sent an email to the person in charge, and it should be fixed.

A few days later, it still wasn't. I called again. It was now December 19th. I told the girl there that I was concerned, because the letter I got said if they didn't hear from me by the 27th, they'd assume I acknowledged the debt. She said she had put a flag on it and it would NOT go into collection.

Today I got a letter postmarked December 29th. (10 days later) The account is in collection. Those idiots at BYU who kept promising me that this wouldn't happen let it happen. From the literature I've read, my credit score will now be impacted by this. 80 freaking dollars. I would have paid $80 I didn't owe if I knew it would come to this.

Now I have to take several hours off of work on Monday to drive down there (I'm done trying to deal with these people on the phone) and get this sorted out.

I'm so glad that the institution that sends me six letters a year asking for donations doesn't care enough to:
- Make good faith efforts to settle problems before jumping to outside agencies
- Hold employees accountable to keep the promises they make
- Show that my concerns are valid by explaining what is happening
- Return my phone calls

Thanks a lot, BYU. I'm glad you're not above making me pay for your mistakes.