For the next few days, Congress is debating Obama's Healthcare bill. There has been somewhat of a debate going on already and so I have been reading the arguments for both sides. I want to prove how the government's arguments are flimsy and unsupported.
First of all, some background. I am not really into politics, but I like to keep up with things that pertain to the well-being of me and my family. Since my father is a doctor, my mother is a medical assistant, and I have been reaping the benefits on health insurance since I can remember, I have been particularly interested in this issue. Plus, I think that we as Americans have the privilege and responsibility to be involved in our government because it was created for the people and is special and unique. But that is a whole different blog post. I also traveled to D.C. a couple of summers ago when the bill was starting to take flight. I visited a senator from Oregon in his office and he happened to have the bill on his desk. It was about a foot tall and was held together by yellow caution tape. We asked him about the hefty bill and he mentioned that no one really has the time to read the whole thing. I deduce that this means no one really knows that whole thing forward and backwards and that scares me. I understand that not all bills are well-known by those who have to vote for it in the House, but this is the type of thing that everyone should know well since it affects everyone who is a US citizen.
Basically, this bill is socialist and therefore unfair. If passed, it would FORCE people to have health insurance. If they don't have health insurance, they would be FORCED to pay a penalty tax. See the issue there? The government is FORCING US citizens to buy something. That is wholly un-Constitutional. America is great because from the beginning we have never been FORCED to do anything. That is the definition of freedom, my friends: having the freedom to choose. And I get infuriated whenever someone takes the freedom of choice away from anyone, anywhere, at anytime. Are we going to let that happen to us? Are we going to let the government make our decisions regarding our our that health, now? If yes, then I warn you that this would be just the beginning.
The argument that the government is giving about why making everyone have health insurance is beneficial is the fact that everyone will have health issues, eventually. In my opinion, this is a weak argument because it is a guessing game and an assumption. Sure, people will need health care for something at some points in their lives, but you cannot pinpoint when it will be, to what extent it will be, and how much it is going to cost them. You can't create a general health plan to cover all the factors that take place with health. That is why health insurance companies have different plans to choose from (look, we can have a choice!). For example, if there is someone who has had cancer since they were five, they will have a different insurance policy than someone who needed mental health coverage suddenly at 20. They both will have a different policy than the person who has only needed their immunizations to get into public school and will probably only need insurance when they need antibiotics for strep at age 35. It is too complicated to socialize health coverage.
Now it has been a tough subject to debate because it makes us who oppose it to be heartless people who want people to go into debt because of an emergency health issue. It is difficult because health coverage usually comes from job benefits, and unemployment is running rampant in our country.
It is also difficult because if we continue how we are now, honest taxpayers will have to continue to cover those health costs of people without insurance. My question is, if they were not able to afford health insurance before, how will they afford Obama care, now?
If the bill were to pass, it would not make the business of healthcare much easier, especially since the solution is medicare and medicaid. I worked as a patient representative at a medical clinic for a few years in high school and college and we were unable to accept new patients with medicare or medicaid insurance. This is because it was just too tricky to work with them. There were no guarantees as to whether or not the patient would pay and even that the insurance companies would pay. This is unfair to the doctors who are giving out a service or product to the patient and they are expected to do it at a reduced rate or for free, if they don't get paid. Would you go to a grocery store and start eating an apple because you were hungry and expect someone else to pay for it or tell them that you will pay for it later? I hope not.
There are many issues surrounding the bill and not just the issues I have covered. I think that people should be taken care of in the United States because we care about our own people. Unemployment and the subsequent lack of health coverage has forced us to question how well our people are being taken care of. I agree that we should maybe reconsider our options. I just don't agree that Obama care is the solution.
courtesy npr.org
