A fool who has compassion for the individual person. I'm not about socialism...but if I'm hired to do a job, I do it to the best of my ability....without judging the individual. Part of my job is to teach that patient to make better choices...not police or condemn them.
With that said, I know your frustration first hand. I've been there....and lived it. It's not fun. Place your anger where it belongs....on the bureaucrats who created that messed up healthcare system...
“without judging the individual.”
Analyzing the root problem is not “judging” a person. Well...it is, but only in the sense that judgment is a good word.
If my 900 lb horse weighed 1800 lbs...he’d be dead already. But if he had problems moving because he was grossly obese, no vet would recommend surgery. They would tell me to feed the horse less, and the horse would move better once he lost a few hundred pounds. If he still had problems after losing weight, then they would take another look.
That wouldn’t be uncompassionate. It wouldn’t be puritanical, or hateful, or spiteful. It would just be an accurate diagnosis.
A woman who weighs over 300 lbs, but who has a skeleton designed to support 100 lbs, cannot solve her problem with knee surgery. If you weigh 2-3 times more than your body was designed to carry, you WILL have problems. Period. There is nothing compassionate or even competent about saying, “That’s fine dear. We’ll replace your knees, the state will pay for it, and then you’ll be fine!” THAT is malpractice. THAT is lying. It is bad medicine.
If someone has high blood pressure and smokes heavily, what is the best way to attack the problem - stop smoking, or lots of blood pressure medication? And if they refuse to stop smoking, then just how much can you do for their heart and lungs anyways? If a person can solve their problem, or at least greatly reduce it, with a lifestyle change, then why are taxpayers obligated to pay for surgery and medication when the patient refuses?
What is compassionate about ignoring the real problem?