Why not Universal Healthcare?

[Sir Terrence the Terrible]

I have a very strong opinion on this issue, because somebody very close to me doe not have very good insurance, and a major illness almost killed him twice.

I am very angry at what I am hearing from the news, and on blog sites as well. One of my buddies company was doing very well financially, but the BOD and stockholders wanted more money to line their already rich pockets. So they decided to make almost everyone in the company part-time so they could kill their benefits package. My friend has a pre-existing condition, so combined with a major cut in salary, and the fact he could not obtain a reasonably priced insurance(or nobody would cover him) he developed a major illness that almost killed him, something that with insurance he was able to afford the meds to control it. After being in the hospital for two weeks, he was promptly sent a bill for over 100k, something he would not have faced when full time employed.

I have seen my health insurance premiums go up about 7% a year for the last 7-8 years. This coincides with the explosion of the salaries of the CEO's of the health insurance companies. Over the last 5 years, one particular insurance company has made $300 million for dropping people when they get ill. I imagine their are other that have had the same result from doing the same thing. Insurance providers raise premiums at will, drop folks at will, sponsor too many expensive employee junkets, line too many politician pockets, and pay their CEO's far too much money with insurance premiums that I pay. They turn around and say they cannot compete with a not for profit government insurance plan, so why are they just not allowed to fail if they cannot? The major cause of bankruptcy in this country comes from medical bills. One county in the bay area where I live has one emergency room in the entire county because the others have all been closed as they were losing too much money.

I was watching television the other day and I heard this gentleman(a rather selfish one at that) say that he does not want to pay for somebody elses insurance. This man lives in tornado alley, and his house has been destroyed several times. I do not want to pay for this man's to rebuild his house after a storm if that is the attitude he is going to take. Things the way they are is going to bankrupt this country, and the free market way of handling insurance is just not working. In this world, everything needs checks and balances and ying and yang. A very strong public option goes a long way to providing a balance, and if the private insurance companies cannot compete, allow them to fail. Isn't that the Republican way? The fact they are afraid of this option, shows that they are not willing to check CEO's salaries, and tackle the waste that permeates throughout their system. If this is the case, they should fail.

What I find ironic about this whole thing, is that the very people who are the most uninsured (the south) are the very people that rile against the public option. How stupid are you to protest against the very thing you need the most? When are people going to stop supporting parties that work against their best interest?

I could go on forever on this, but when fear makes you selfish and paralyzes a process that would actually help millions of Americans, then the country itself deserves to fall from grace into a third world country.

So folks understand. I have a GREAT health insurance plan, and I would gladly pay more in taxes to cover others that are either under-insured, or have none at all.

[nightflier]

When are people going to stop supporting parties that work against their best interest?

...they stop being one-issue voters. Apologies for being crass about this issue, but the formula is very clear: anti-abortion politicians are against the national option. So while it defies logic, those voters will be anti-national-option too. It's what's the matter with Kansas, remember? Free, fair and public education is one generations-long way out of this quagmire, but who's got the time to wait that long? Certainly not the stock market.

I could go on forever on this, but when fear makes you selfish and paralyzes a process that would actually help millions of Americans, then the country itself deserves to fall from grace into a third world country.

I disagree with that sentiment. We should never wish for the sky to fall, because it could fall, and then it won't be health coverage we'll be fighting over anymore.

[Sir Terrence the Terrible]

...they stop being one-issue voters. Apologies for being crass about this issue, but the formula is very clear: anti-abortion politicians are against the national option. So while it defies logic, those voters will be anti-national-option too. It's what's the matter with Kansas, remember? Free, fair and public education is one generations-long way out of this quagmire, but who's got the time to wait that long? Certainly not the stock market.

It's not just Kansas, it's the entire south. The most Ironic thing is I hear people on Medicare and Medicaid saying keep the government out of my health care.

I disagree with that sentiment. We should never wish for the sky to fall, because it could fall, and then it won't be health coverage we'll be fighting over anymore.

Then so be it. It's about time this country pays for its ignorance and backwards thinking. Part of the reason we are in this mess is because we haven't had to pay the price of our bad collective decisions.