I am the last person to ask about what is in the health care reform bill. I have yet to even skim the bill. And this post won’t be a comment about supporting it or not based on what I hear.
But something has been bothering me for a while. As I hear those who oppose the reform speak in town hall meetings, I feel like one part of their argument doesn’t hold water. Some have said, they are opposed to health care reform because they don’t want government controlling their health care; they want to be able to control their own health care.
To me, this view is out-of-focus from two angles. The first, from the fact that the government is not involved in health care. Besides the health care funded projects and programs the government sponsors (Medicare, free clinics, medical research grants), the government is involved with every FDA-approved medicine you take, every hospital inspection, they even affect your nutrition (the Food Pyramid is a Surgeon General invention). I shudder to think where we would be if the government were not involved. People dying because they couldn’t fill a prescription, or the medicine is not available, because it wasn’t approved–and therefore not covered by insurance.
Secondly, if you think you are the only one controlling your health care, think again. your insurance has limits, and unfortunately your ability to receive care and quality of care is dictated by those limits. Get your head out of the sand, people. Yes, you ultimately have a choice how you wish to be treated, but trust me you pay for that choice. And don’t think that a doctor is not going to try his best to give you the drug from the pharmaceutical company that’s paying him, rather than the best medicine for you.
Don’t be so short-sighted–looking at the politics of this issue, or at your own welfare/responsibilities. Try your best to see the big picture; look at all sides of an argument before taking a side. I am still in research mode, and I look at each town hall meeting and televised press conference, as an opportunity to learn.