Since I’m on vacation and not posting as much this week, I thought I’d point you to some worthwhile reading material. Seriously, you HAVE to read this post. (Make sure you don’t miss the information quoted directly from the Health Care Bill at the end.) And then read this one.
Thank you, Pauline, for summing it up so succinctly and taking the time to articulate your thoughts. I appreciate your unique perspective, and I wholehearrtedly agree.
I am obsessed with this post. Love it. Thanks for the links and the information.
Thanks for posting this. It’s definitely scary- and depressing. I can’t believe what’s going on in our country. I feel like the only thing I can do now is pray.
Speechless. Speechless for my family and all of our current health conditions.
Lord come quickly.
-H
It was an interesting read! I live in Canada and am not fully aware of this current bill being discussed. I do know that I like our health care system and couldn’t imagine what it would have cost to deliver my three sons by c-section. There is always room for improvement, and there are those that take advantage of the system but overall, I’m glad that my family doesn’t have to go without crucial health care because of lack of funds! I wonder if there is some solution that includes a bit of both? Thanks for the link, it is always good to see both sides of things.
Thank you for this post! I appreciate the detailed information provided. Wow. More reasons to vote against the bill.
Hi. Let me start by saying that I have been reading your blog for quite a few months and I really enjoy your writing. I look forward to reading your posts every day. Thanks! Now, having said that I must comment on your post about the healthcare reform bill. My husband and I (and our 4 kids) are blessed with wonderful healthcare coverage. The problem is that not everyone in this country is so lucky. I think the majority of people feel that all Americans should have some form of healthcare but the sad fact is that 45 million people don’t have it. The title of your post: “Be afraid. Be V-E-R-Y afraid” made me think of the members of my family who do not have healthcare coverage. They are already afraid. They often have to wait it out before going to the doctor when they are ill. The post you linked to addressed long waits in Canada. Believe it or not, there are people in this country who already wait to go to the doctor. Or they don’t go at all. They can’t afford to go. And the story about the healthcare in Paris? Well, quite frankly that happens in emergency rooms in this country, as well. (my 82 year old grandmother (who was insured!) once waited 3 hours on a gurney (in a hallway!) to be seen by a doctor in an emergency room right here in this country. It happens. One of the reasons? Our emergency rooms are flooded with people who don’t have insurance. They are told that “they can always go to the emergency room.” (I am paraphrasing our last President there) I don’t want to be overly political. Really! I am trying to educate myself about this bill as much as possible. I just don’t like all of the scare tactics out there. I don’t think we should be “afraid.” I think we should be educated. Having said all that, thank you for posting and helping people to be engaged in an important issue.
I appreciate the civil discussion. I didn’t have time to elaborate when I linked to OHmommy’s posts, but what I’m objecting to specifically is THIS bill. There has to be a better way — one in which people still have choices and there is still competition to encourage excellence. KWIM?
Honestly this bill terrifies me.
(And I thought the same thing about the 4-hour wait in France. That’s not unheard of here, for sure.)
I really appreciated that link since I’ve been playin’ ostrich since November. As a mom I love hearing other moms’ perspectives on issues that could impact my family. Thanks for shining the spotlight on it.
Great post and great discussions. I think anytime the American public wakes up and pays attention to what’s going on in Washington, it’s a very good thing. People need to be informed and make their own decisions.
I care about folks not getting good health care. And I think there needs to be reform, but I don’t think Nationalized Health care is the answer. You don’t fix a leaky roof by burning down the house and rebuilding 10 miles away. You fix the leaky roof!
There’s an old saying “you don’t get nothing for nothing”. This bill will cost. We will be paying for it one way another. Where does the American people think 1.6 trillion dollars is going to come from? It will come from our pocketbooks. Nothing in life is free!
Oh boy… I could go on and on about this subject. I guess I’m part of that “angry mob” they are talking about
) It’s certainly motivated me to be more aware, research more, read more and ask more questions.
Thanks Jo-Lynne for taking on a “hot topic!”
Lara
I don’t like to take other people’s take on things that are this new and this complicated. Just because you’re a doctor doesn’t mean you know everything about politics, the insurance system or the medical system. Or that you are unbiased. People quote pages out of the bill but put their spin on what is actually said, or meant. Then people quote the quote. The next thing you know, it’s viraled out of control and it’s become fact.
Here’s a non-partisan and points out facts, distortions and lies from ALL camps.
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/
There’s a lot of stuff out there from both sides. I’d suspect that if someone wrote a 1,300 page report on our CURRENT healthcare? it would scare the heck out of a lot of us and it would shame our wealthy, democratic, ‘Judeo-Christian’ country. The comparisons to other countries’ healthcare systems don’t actually apply, even Canada, because the systems, the people, the population, access are DIFFERENT. We have a great healthcare system but partly because we are such a wealthy country with so much resource but only a portion of the people get adequate healthcare.
Oh and by the way, congress /government have different EVERYTHING than us. And that wasn’t done by the Dems. So they’ll have different healthcare? Not a big surprise.
Hey Grace, thanks for the link. I’m always on the look out for non-biased articles on political issues. I’ll check it out.
I agree that we can’t compare our situation to other countries. That’s one of my arguments against a nationalized health care plan.
The way I see it, the government hasn’t run any institution in a way that instills confidence in their ability to run a national health care program. I think OHmommy’s analogy of the DMV was spot-on.
What I object to is anything that takes away choice and forces everyone to partake in a nationalized health care program. That’s what it SOUNDS like this bill is proposing. If I’m wrong, then thank goodness! I sincerely hope I am.
If the government wants to ensure health coverage for those who can’t afford private insurance and health care, how about empowering the states to provide public plans on their level, rather than a national program? I wonder if that’s even a consideration.
Of course I have no clue what will work and won’t work. And I’m glad it’s not up to me.