I had intended to use this space to wax misanthropic about the obscenity of holiday shopping, but you know what? Enjoy the flat screen. Those VH-1 "Top 50 Countdown" shows are drivel unless you're watching on something north of 52 inches.

Instead, last week, my attention, disdain and holiday shopping budget were diverted by a drama playing out at about 1/25,000 inch across. Yes, I received a visit from our tiny but feisty friends of the Stapholococcus genus (and I was hoping for a puppy).

Because the details are so juicy, I won't spare you, but I will summarize:

• Felt tenderness in elbow Monday.
• Monday night, inspection of elbow revealed inflammation from an infected cut I don't remember getting.
• Treated with betadine and neosporin.
• Took car in Tuesday (cause this is LA, right, and it's just an infection).
• Went to doctor Wednesday, and without an appointment waited 2 hours and forked over $50 co-pay. Antibiotics prescribed.
• Went back Friday (another $50), infection not responding. "My" doctor (the doctor who happened to be available in the clinic at the time) sent me to the ER for intravenous antibiotics. NO!!!

No, I wasn't afraid of the needle; it was the bill I feared. I'd been through the same thing earlier in the year with my son. Because I've opted for a higher deductible and "lower" premiums, my out-of-pocket expenses for his 24 hours in the ER/hospital/follow-up was over $5K. (And, oddly, while our hospital is a preferred provider for our insurer, the ER staff is not.)

What's the alternative? Shop around for the lowest cost ER? Die slowly and horribly?

Long-evening-in-the-ER short: the forces of Vancomycin put the MRSA insurgency in check, and I'm back being a productive member of society (if you don't count the online scrabble addiction).

I tell you my tale not because I feel so screwed, but because I'm so fortunate. My family is relatively healthy, relatively affluent and relatively well-insured, yet health care costs still weigh on us. Our out-of-pocket medical payments may mean a compromised vacation or buying a used car instead of a new one. But for tens of millions of Americans, it means going without essentials. It is the new expense eroding the incomes of an already-strapped middle class.

And sure the doctors, nurses, labtechs and health insurance policy-cancelers are part of the economy too, but the "medical nest-egg" famillies need to budget for now induces a "poverty effect," diminishing their ability to afford things like a 52" plasma screen. ...Okay, maybe not that, but, you know, food.

Rising healthcare costs make us a less healthy nation. Seniors and the less-affluent go without medication, rather than spend their precious resources on expensive prescriptions. Treatment delayed is far costlier than preventive care. And I know I'm not the only one who weighs whether an infection or pain is worth the hours-long wait and expensive trip to urgent care or the ER.

Costs are rising for a variety of reasons (and notice they've gone way up, not down, since Republicans passed a medical malpractice cap), including the price of new drugs, new technologies and new corporate greed.

A baggage handler can't afford the same car as a private equity fund guy. But he deserves the same tests, scans and surgery if he's sick, right? Well? How about, he deserves a reasonably decent standard of care. The way we ensure his kids get a reasonably decent standard of education, while Mr. Private Equity sends his kids to an expensive private school.

Uh oh. You see where this is leading... Universal Health Care. And I can hear the Capitol Hill health insurance shills whining, "We don't want bureaucrats controlling medical care." And, how is letting Wall Street control healthcare working for us... with accountants deciding what procedures to approve and which subscribers to cancel?

The phrase "socialized medicine" is meant to scare us, yet "socialized education" and "socialized retirement" work reasonably well. Could these programs work better? Absolutely. Is our country better off because of them? Absolutely. Are we forcing the wealthy to send their kids to public schools or subsist solely on a Social Security check? No.

Universal health care is a pro-business solution. GM spends more on health care than it does on steel. In the global marketplace, taking the burden of health care off of American employers will make us more competitive and bring jobs back to this country.

Entrepreneurs will feel freer to leave jobs and start new companies. And people over 35... or people with existing medical conditions... will be employable again.

Do you see any proposals like this coming from the leading candidates of either party? Me neither. So when you go to the voting booth, keep those antiseptic wipes handy.

Okay, enough sobering social commentary. Please return to your normal festivities. And, hey, for me the good news is - now that it inspired an article, the whole ER visit is a tax write-off. Sweet!

So get out there and shop, shop, shop! And really, see a doctor if that Christmas card paper cut gets infected.

By Toby Muller

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