Why I Support Health Care Reform

I support health care reform and I support a public option.  It is the right thing to do in this time of crisis.

It will come as a shock to those with whom I am acquainted and who know I am a proud liberal that I do not think the government should be involved beyond providing basic services for protection home and abroad and to basically making our lives better.  It will not come as a shock to my acquaintances that I am adamantly opposed to the government's involvement in social issues and religious issues; I am a firm believer in the separation of church and state and believe that is the only cause I could personally agree to fight and die for to prevent.

There comes a time, however, when a crisis has grown beyond what a grassroots movement can handle and beyond what a free market society can reasonably provide; thus is the crisis we face with health care.  Health insurance companies are only around to handle the paperwork and to produce a profit; they do not provide medical care nor do they conduct any medical research that makes our health better.  Yet, they determine what our physicians can do, what they can charge, what kinds of medications are used, and what is paid.  They determine when we can get insurance and when our insurance can be canceled.

I have a full-time job with benefits, including medical insurance, in a field where I make a comparable salary to those who perform the same type of work.  I live alone and have no bills beyond my basic living expenses.  I take one medication that I possibly could discontinue if I followed a more rigid diet; however, I have a strong family history of this disease so it would be to my benefit to take it in addition to following a rigid diet.  My medication expense each month is equivalent to my rent.  There are times when I have to buy a week's worth of medication at a time so I will have enough money until the next pay period.  Granted, I am reimbursed 80% of the cost then up to 100%; however, I still have to pay for these up front before being reimbursed.  My co-pay for a doctor's visit is now $45 per visit.

My beloved cat, Butch, died recently.  I depleted my meager savings in an effort to help him survive, yet I couldn't afford to complete the diagnostic testing to find out what was wrong with him and how to help him.  Furthermore, I would not have been able to afford the care he would need to maintain his health. I had to make the decision to euthanize him because I could not afford to keep him alive and it was a difficult decision to know that something like money kept me from being able to keep my beloved Butch alive.  I can not begin to imagine the heartbreak families without medical insurance or with inadequate coverage make every day in a country as wealthy as the one in which we live.

I am a person with a full-time job and medical insurance benefits and it is still difficult.  What about the millions of others with less or no insurance coverage?  Chris Rock once joked that if you have insurance coverage you'll at least die on a mattress.  I'm not so sure that is true anymore. 

The faux outrage and fear heard from the right are just that: faux outrage and fear.  Disaster does not have to come in the form of a hurricane or a flooded city.  Disaster can come in the form of greed and  power.  This is a disaster that has grown too big for us to manage and must be addressed by an agency large enough to handle it: the government.

To reiterate the obvious:
No one from the government is going to kill grandma.
No abortions will be paid by a government health insurance plan (although I personally think this would be a wonderful thing to do).
No one is going to stop paying for breast cancer treatment.
The fear tactic that children with disabilities will not be covered is a moot point.  Children with disabilities are already covered!
And, apparently, no one wants to provide health care for illegal immigrants.

As someone who works in health care, I can't imagine any person who needed help being turned away from receiving health care. If they were then that person did not need to be working in health care.  What would be the next step to discouraging people from coming to this country looking for a better life - refusing to allow them to buy groceries or water?  If you saw an automobile accident, would you first check for immigration papers before trying to assist?  How low would you go?