I want you to know that I support a public option for health care, even one as flawed as the current one on the table. Yes, get ready your "socialized medicine" and "one world government" comments. I'll load up my "selfish" and "short-sighted" ones. We can have at each other in a moment.
I thought this post by Roger Ebert expressed exactly what I feel about the current health plan debate. Read the comments, too, as they are insightful.
Let me acknowledge my bias in this: I do not have health insurance and cannot not purchase it due to preexisting conditions (diabetes and respiratory problems). I have been turned down by several companies, including ones that said they make allowances for preexisting conditions. As a result, the bills from my recent medical problems have pushed me to the edge of bankruptcy. My budget is razor-thin. One more medical test or a car breakdown or a roof leak or another unexpected bill and I'm toast. I want health insurance. I'm willing to pay for health insurance. But I cannot get it.
And don't mention the Oklahoma's Department of Human Services to me. I make too much money at my present job to qualify for any assistance with health care costs. I have tried several times, but there is no aid for people in the middle.
I mention all this not to get any sympathy, but for you to realize that I'm the face of the uninsured in America. Me. Stephen. Think about that the next time you casually dismiss any chance for a public option on health insurance. What you're saying is that it's okay for me to be uninsured, that it's okay for me to be beat down by my bills. Think about that.
And one more thing: I don't forgive you for saying that. Because you're not truly sorry. There's no apology to be accepted. And even if you offered it, I won't accept. Whether we like it or not, health care is war, and I've picked my side. Now it's up to you to pick yours.
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8 comments:
It's so sad to draw a line in the sand and no one even attempts to cross it. Sigh. Well, I guess this is a victory for my side. Woohoo.
I'm not going to apologize for my stand on this, but I am troubled (always have been) that there are people like you caught on the outside (certainly, you are not in the middle, even though your income is). Unfair is too trite. Wrong is the correct answer. I just cannot accept that another step toward adopting socialism as a way of life and political answer for this country is the only solution.
Unfortunately, from what I've read in the bill, this won't necessarily help the health care situation but it WILL go a long way toward big government and loss of individual rights and opportunities.
When the first provision I read about in the bill is the only option when you lose your private insurance is to go on the public plan (you would not be permitted to go with another private insurer), that is not encouraging competition in the industry. It's a war of attrition the private insurers and the privately insured are guaranteed to lose.
No. This is not about health care or adding competition. It a Big Government Power Grab. Plain and simple. American people lose. End of story. And sadly, you lose, too. Because any one of those things you mentioned are likely to happen before this vast bureaucracy of the federal government will ever get this behemoth in motion in time to do you any good in the next year or two.
Woohoo! A response! A long response, one that I can agree with on a couple of points, but mostly don't on the rest, but it's response! Woohoo! I have a reader! :)
TECH, I am going to disagree with you because I totally support our President Obama's UNFLAWED health plan. It's the Republicans who have lied to the public about death panels and socialized medicine while ignoring the minorities who are harmed by not having a public health plan in place. I've also read plenty about the bill, and I haven't read anything about people being forced to go to the public plan. Does Jean have source for that? I bet her source is some Republican with an axe to grind against President Obama. The Republicans keep trying to win the election even now.
You have 2 readers! :)
Woohoo! Two readers! :)
Gloria, I'm quite sure Jean read that somewhere, and I don't think she would be taken in by someone with an axe to grind. I did an Net search and couldn't find it, but also didn't spend much time on it as I was sure Jean will be able to provide us with a link! :)
Sure do, Gloria. I read it on the THOMAS site, section 102. It's kind of convoluted, but it's there.
Note sure if this link will work or not: http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/F?c111:1:./temp/~c111nqVwx6:e22987:
Lest you wonder, it's Stephen's situation that opened my eyes enough to realize we have a valid health care problem in this country that needs addressing. He provides a face of someone I know and care for who cannot get what he needs.
We appear to disagree on how to solve the problem -- although I support both his and Tambo's recommended solutions. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem that Congress is listening to either him or Tambo.
Oh, yeah, and for my take on how "death panels" can come to pass, read my "Gunnin' for Grandma" post on http://jeanschara.com
I would agree that "Death Panels" is a dramatic term, probably calculated to get the response it did. While that won't be their purpose, the panel(s) that wind up deciding how to allocate limited resources will come to be thought of this way.
These decisions are made today at a much lower level. They are made in socialized, government provided health care, and they are made in today's system. It's a crap shoot either way who will get the benefit of the resources available. Inevitably, someone we love will be denied the care we believe they need.
I'm not sure how to resolve that. I don't see it being resolved in the plan before Congress that's been made available to review. There are at least four plans in the Senate that are not available for review, and I don't know if any of them are any better than what I've seen on THOMAS.
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