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What is this?
Let’s get facts on health care
Published Monday, August 10, 2009
It’s been a few weeks since Barack Obama released his proposed plan for health care reform, and I have yet to hear anything reliable that actually tells me what’s in the bill.
I don’t have much time to go through more than 2,000 pages of legalese, so I haven’t read the bill. I might wind up having to do so myself, though, to hear the truth about what’s in it. National media sites haven’t been much help, and pretty much everything I can find on the Web, short of the actual bill, is punditry, rather than the truth.
Even the “town hall meetings” (can we please get away from using that term?) across the country are being sabotaged by protesters who have turned the meetings into shouting matches, even using images of swastikas or Adolf Hitler to represent Obama.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called the demonstrators “un-American.” How quickly she forgets that “the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances” is guaranteed in the First Amendment.
Even though the protesters are well within their rights, I regret they’ve turned to shouting to get their point across. A meeting where people can really have their voice heard, and really learn about what is included in the health care reform bill, can’t happen in a disorganized fashion.
What I’ve heard about the health care bill, however, I don’t like. There’s talk of losing the basic freedoms of citizens to choose their own doctors, choose their own plans and have a voice in their own care. There’s talk of higher taxes for lower out-of-pocket costs, which basically means that I’ll be paying for everybody else’s health care.
Let’s get one thing straight, Mr. President: While I would love for everybody to have access to quality health care, it’s not my responsibility to pay for everybody else’s health care.
People who want health care should get a job and pay for it themselves. I already pay for not only my own health care, but also that of everybody already on Medicare and Medicaid. If we put more people on the government health care dole, it will drive my taxes up further, and I still will pay for my own health care.
That means the girl whose tattoo gets infected, the guy who drinks too much and gets cirrhosis of the liver, and the person who eats too much, doesn’t exercise and develops heart problems will be using my money to treat their preventable ailments.
Sorry, but that doesn’t fly. My insurance premiums already are astronomical, and I can’t imagine the cost going down when government gets involved.
I looked for a meeting coming up in the near future in the area, and all I could find was one hosted by Rep. Rob Wittman Aug. 31 at Christopher Newport University’s Ferguson Center for the Arts in Newport News. Make sure to attend and make your voice heard (no shouting).
To read the full health care bill, visit http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d111:H.R.3200:
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Comments
Posted by bena (anonymous) on August 11, 2009 at 7:55 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I see a lot of truth in your article and I as well do not believe that a universal health care plan will benefit the citizens of the United States but I do not agree with the comment that you are paying for Medicare. The majority of individuals on Medicare have worked long and hard and money is actually taken out of their Medicare checks for their coverage. Medicare coverage is actually the lowest payer of all insurances; even lower than Medicaid and the majority of people eligible for Medicare do not qualify for Medicaid as a secondary payer. They must pay large deductibles and 20% of all care becomes their responsibility. One would hope that should a universal health plan come to reality that it is not as slack as Medicare. One might say that because the insurance system has been abused by so many "sick" people that is why all citizens have to dig deeper in their pockets but I say if a person gets Medicaid and is not truly disabled then they should be given a job by the state to pay for this coverage. They can pick up trash or sweep the sidewalks, wash cars for the police, even wash windows. In foreign countries if you are on public assistance you work and contribute to that assistance; you do not drive a Lexus and wear designer clothes and sit home and plop chocolates. It is time the United States government wakes up and smells the roses or cherry blossoms in Washington.
Posted by destinyismyne (anonymous) on August 11, 2009 at 1:47 p.m. (Suggest removal)
The reporter is not ready for "Prime Time" reporting on this subject. Tracy, you are the reporter, so your report should be based on your analysis of the over 2,000 pages of legalese you mentioned. Oh! you have not had time to read it. After you read it,then come back with a report. Your report, using your own confession, is based primarily on what you heard. That is not the traits of a good reporter. See, you can influence so many people with your uninformed writing. In Journalism 101,we learned to research and analyze before reporting. Please don't be talking about the little bit of money you pay for medicare and medicaid. Because if you live long enough you will probably shout with joy about these government programs. So I am looking forward to your forthcoming story with facts. Remember, there is over 40 million people without any insurance coverage in America. This number include persons who can't afford or is rejected by insurance companies. Me,I support the health bill. Gra.. Eure Br....
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