Trusting Your Gut with Health Reform

 

Health care is, first and foremost, arguably one of the most popular and unpopular government programs today. According to the National Coalition for Health Care, over 46 million adults and children are without health insurance. Additionally, we have six million people out of work. Many are suffering from stress, addiction, anger and fear and the desperate of us are turning to crime, filling up the courts, jails, doctor’s offices and emergency rooms; all this is on the taxpayers’ tab. 

Tom Daschle, wrote in Newsweek, “Republicans believe health care can be best guided by consumers, physicians and markets.” In my opinion, this can’t work because of so much greed and fraud. Democrats believe government would do better. Democrats would have government buy health care for us; set the rates for doctors, hospitals and medicines; and decide what medical treatment we would be entitled to receive for each illness.”  Again, this system would probably work were it not for all the greed of the doctors, insurance companies, hospitals and medicine providers. I’m beginning to agree that money is evil.

Our experts believe the swine flu will likely climb to “pandemic” status. Is this media hype or fact? What about those of us who have no insurance? What will we do? The poor are getting poorer and turning to crime. The rich are getting richer because of lack of concern for poor. That shard of my brain that is still capable of rational thought  tells me change is good. No change is bad.

Experience is the best teacher and as the richest nation on earth, we should be able to learn something from one of the poorest nations in the world, like Mexico. A letter on Mexican Health Care by Jerry Draughon writes, “So impressed am I of Mexico’s health care program, I thought I’d write this letter and give Escape from American Magazine readers something to think about.  In the US, I was paying $6,500 per year for my group health plan, and that didn’t include my medicinal dental

I worry about what a world with no children or elderly would be like if the swine flu should become as bad as experts think. Streamlining medical care is good for the heart of America. Health care is not just a political and economic issue but a moral one. None of us want to lose our children or elderly to the swine flu or any other disease. Insurance coverage for everyone will save lives. It is like an unopened gift. Whatever we do there has to be protection against fraud and greed. “Who is watching who” will be very important. There are a few things all of us can consider to help the system out. We can follow our gut before contemplating fraud and greed. Another thing we can do is bring our suspicions to the internet. Keeping quiet is a no-win situation. Perhaps we should follow our gut and ask not what our country can do for us but ask what we can do to keep everybody honest.