All Things Transcription

I was taught that there are three subjects that you don’t talk about in public; religion, sex, and politics. It kind of feeds back to the old saying, “If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything.” For the most part, I agree with this. There isn’t much point in attending a social gathering just to start a conversation that polarizes all the guests and makes everyone angry. It spoils the fun. That being said, let’s talk about a political issue.

Follow up:

Obviously, one political subject that is polarizing people right now is the healthcare legislation under consideration. This article is not being written for information so I won’t go in to any specific details about the legislation. If you consider this to be an important issue, then take the time to educate yourself about this very confusing bill. Instead, I just want to get some of this off my chest.

I will begin with stating that, as a medical transcriptionist, I have tried to monitor the situation since I believe it will affect me on both a personal and professional level. Depending on what the final form of this legislation turns out to be, it could very well affect our jobs as transcriptionists. If the government takes over even part of our healthcare system, perhaps physicians will no longer be able to choose who takes care of their transcriptions for patients that are covered by the government.

The amount of paperwork that doctors are required to deal with regarding healthcare that is given to people who receive some type of assistance is already pretty unbelievable. Imagine what it might be like if healthcare is further overseen by the government. I picture teams of transcriptionists tapping away in an enclosed room doing “government” physician dictations. So much for working at home, but at least I would probably have healthcare.

It is true that there are countries that offer publicly funded helathcare. I was greatly amused by someone I know who made the comment that they got their healthcare for “free.” No, it is not “free.” Someone is paying for it, through taxes. That’s been mentioned in conjunction with our healthcare “reform.” Now I am not rich; far from it, in fact. However, imagine how you would feel if you were and someone started screaming about you being responsible for paying for other people’s healthcare. It may not be “fair” that some people go without healthcare in this country, but is it fair to make someone who happens to have more money than other folks pay for them? My answer is NO! Yours may be different.

Basically, all I am suggesting is that you make your opinion about this subject known to your representatives. If there isn’t a town hall meeting near you, then contact them through snail or email. They are supposed to be working for us, so give them something to do.

There are lots of other things at stake with this legislation, but it would take too long to address each one. I just wanted to put in my two cents for what it is worth. I will leave you with one question, "Do people have a right to healthcare?"