Profit and Bones

Bottomless thieves

keep the furnace fed

with our bankrupted bones

Each stolen dollar and death

is fuel for the profit flames

The corporations collect

while they destroy

Image description – photo shows a section of oak tree leaves that appear burnt. The burned looking leaves are enmeshed with a tall fir tree. The ground below looks dry and lifeless.

I’ve been thinking about the tragic train wreck that is the for-profit health insurance industry in the US, because how could I not? How could the fear of the worsening situation not weigh on my mind? The past few decades have seen health care become a luxury. Insurance companies make their profit by charging a ton and denying coverage for needed services. People survive on pain medication because surgery is too expensive. Medical care is put off because people fear the resulting bill, and for good reason. The for-profit health insurance industry bankrupts people, lowers quality of life, and shortens longevity. And it doesn’t even bother to apologize.

Health insurance CEOs and shareholders are raking in the profits by refusing to cover medical care wherever and however they can. Hospitals and pharmaceutical companies aren’t innocent either, with their ridiculous costs. The idea of medication existing but people not being able to access when they need to without losing one’s home or having to choose between food or medicine is not some horror movie subplot. We’re living in a dystopian nightmare brought to life by greed. Many politicians’ careers were funded by that greed.

Will the situation ever be resolved, or will each generation grow more accustomed to the worsening lack of access to affordable medical care? The suspense isn’t fun.