Health Care Reform

April 16, 2010 • Skylar Bond  
Filed under Opinion

Health Care Re-form. What does it mean? Is it the answer to the prayers of countless people without health care? Will it be the downfall of President Barrack Obama’s agenda? Or will it merely further divide what is an already deeply divided nation? The answer to all of these questions is yes… and maybe not.

Before and immediately after the Affordable Health Care for America bill passed, the news polls were showing about 60 percent of Americans did not want the health care bill. Republicans are hopeful that these numbers will continue until November, the next election period for the House and the Senate, hoping to gain back ground that they lost a year ago. And they have good reason to be excited, after the presidential election in 2008 it looked like the Republican Party was on a steep decline, but that wouldn’t last long, thanks to a lackluster Democrat- controlled congress, which hasn’t delivered on at least one-fourth of the promises Obama made in his Presidential campaign.

President Obama and the rest of the Democrats, especially the ones in congress that look like they might lose there jobs, (which appears to be just about everyone.); hope that the current numbers don’t last. President Obama is starting a campaign to bolster support for this bill.

But why is the bill so deeply opposed by some people? Because any change isn’t always good change. Many practicing doctors have sent letters to congressmen that say they’re going to take an early retirement because they are afraid that this new health care bill is going to cost them money, which it will. Indeed many groups of people are going to feel the pinch. Insurance companies (obviously), small businesses (because of increased taxes, now there’s a shocker… not), and last but not least is you. One would think that when the government was thinking up this “sweeping” health care re-form, that they would think “Hey! How are we going to pay for this?” Well, apparently at the end of it all, they did.  It turns out that pretty much everyone is going to see an increase in their taxes, and everyone’s wallet is going to be a little lighter. Oh and for the record, if by chance you don’t want insurance at all, then that’s okay, as long as you pay the government for not making you purchase health insurance. By the way the price for having government run insurance and the price for not having insurance is almost the same.

The scariest part about the health care re-form issue is not the senseless way they’re going about getting the money to pay for it (scary), it isn’t the fact that the government is reaching out for even more control in your daily lives (really, really scary), it’s not that congress has yet to actually pass a major bill that has the support of the majority of the public (which is extremely scary in its own right), the scariest part is the fact that the government now owns or has direct control/ influence on over half of our economy.

Since the multi- billion dollar bailouts the government has been rapidly increasing its control. From owning AIG, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, they now have direct influence on the banking and loaning sector of the stock market. And now with the expansion of Medicaid and Medicare, and all the other things the new health bill adds, the government will have a dominating influence over all health-related fields. It’s an expansion of government influence that has never been seen before in the U.S. and many people (including myself) are concerned about it.

This nation was founded on certain principles, life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. This health care bill threatens all three. This health care bill takes away decisions about your health care from insurance companies, but instead of giving you more freedom and choice to decide how you want to receive health care, it merely serves to make the government more powerful and controlling of your life. Don’t you have the right to decide what is best for you? It should be your choice, not the government’s or insurance companies. The pursuit of happiness is all about deciding what makes you happy and pursuing it. This bill rips out all of the decision-making, and it is essentially the government telling you what will make you happy. That isn’t what the U.S. is supposed to be about. There is a way you can change the government from its current coarse, vote out the current Congressmen that threaten your freedom and elect a new, more efficient and better Congress.

Tags:

 Email This Post        Print This Post