Yesterday, I heard a familiar voice on T.V. It was the screaming bearded infomercial guy, who's always trying to sell you the latest kitchen accessory ("It slices! It dices!") or a 55-gallon-drum of OxiClean. You know the guy--he's always yelling at the top of his lungs, like you're deaf, or maybe not smart enough to see what a great deal he'll get you, if you and your credit card would JUST LISTEN!
Only this time, he wasn't selling extra absorbent towels or magic putty--he was selling medical insurance! I stopped to watch, fascinated.
I couldn't believe it. I know health care is a mess, but has it come to this? Health insurance infomercials? Really?
Yep, really. He yelled at me onscreen, asking if I was one of the 47 million Americans without health insurance. He yelled at me that I should call even if I do have health insurance. (Not sure why.) He just yelled his way through the whole commercial, telling me it is called affordable health insurance because folks, it really is affordable. And man, is he passionate about it! (His words, not mine.)
I felt kinda weird about it all. I'm used to seeing this guy sell wacky stuff using an easy payment plan. Sometimes he even has an admiring audience, who ooh and ahh over his wares. But this was just odd.
His medical plan offered doctor's visits, surgery, even maternity coverage, but maybe those costs are so low because they use not-quite-state-of-the-art equipment. I worried that maybe the doctors save money on stitches by patching you up with magic putty instead. Or that they use those extra absorbent towels in the operating room, which are stain-free thanks to washing them in OxiClean. Or that maybe they sterilize their surgical equipment using the Steam Buddy.
I dunno...I'm glad those 47 million uninsured Americans now have an affordable option for medical care. And I'm glad that WAIT--THAT'S NOT ALL! That if they act now, they'll probably receive an extra added bonus (at no extra cost!).
But it still seems a little weird to me...
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