The Health Care Thing

I’m in favor of major health care reform.  I want a national plan like the other modern countries.  I want to be like the grown-ups.  The big numbers are as depressing as they are undeniable.  We spend more than any other country on health care and we're only 37th in overall care.  Nearly 50 million Americans are without health care.  The majority of personal bankruptcies in America are triggered by a catastrophic illness.  Another big number is the cost that we have to add to any major products (cars are a huge one) for the private health care we have to buy.  All of those numbers and others add up to a black eye--a major black eye--for the greatest country in the world.

I'm not going to tell you that I know the best health care options, because I don't.  However, when insurance companies whine about the so-called "public option," that is, government-provided health care to cover those who can't be covered by regular insurance or who are between jobs, I don't buy it.  Nay-sayers claim that all companies and individuals will sign up for the government plan because it will be cheaper.  What I'm reading is that at most about 10 million would sign up for this option.  I've been between jobs and I've signed up for the COBRA plan.  It's hundreds a month, well over a grand a month for a family of 3.  And that's when you have NO job! 

The real thing insurance companies are worried about is the same concern of every business--profits.  If they cared about care, we would never hear, “we know you paid, but we're not covering this illness."  Or, "you have a pre-existing condition so we're not covering it."  This happens every day in America crushing people, their dreams and their lives.  I say it's wrong.

Did you know that only 2 countries in the entire world are allowed to advertise pharmaceuticals on TV?  Yeah, the US and New Zealand.  Naturally, many of the billions we spend each year are inspired by TV ads.  Think about it.  Ever hear of "restless leg syndrome" before you saw the ads on the tube?  Admittedly I’m from the recreational drug era.  But the way I see it, when someone tells you what drugs to take, they're your doctor.  If you tell them what drugs you want to take, they're your dealer.  Or did I miss something?

Doctors will not go broke with a national health care plan.  They will continue to be highly paid and highly respected.  Insurance companies will continue to exist; they just won't be able to gamble in the financial markets with as much of our money.  They'll charge less, or go out of business.  Big pharma will continue to prosper.  They’ll just be forced to make profits more closely aligned to the profits they generate in other countries where drug prices are dramatically lower. 

I admit, there is nothing in the Constitution guaranteeing Americans access to affordable health care.  However, there's nothing in there about saving people from Katrina, or Agnes.  There's nothing in there about support for education from pre-school through post-graduate.  The Constitution never mentions Social Security or Medicare.  I contend that these are all programs which make us a better country.  Health care is the same, and it's long overdue. 

People are shouting down our leaders over health care.  It's a set-up.  Thousands of Americans died and hundreds of billions were lost in Iraq and not a single meeting was interrupted.  The very people who complain now abou t sticking our grandchildren with debt never said a word when we stuck those kids with the bill for the Iraq war.  These protesters are either plants or the severely uninformed.  But don't believe me.  When they get done waving the Constitution at you, ask them for a specific problem.  That's where the rubber meets the road and these people don't know the issues and don't have the answers.  I know, I hear them every day.