Health "Reform"

I like my friend Ethan. He doesn't like the United States of America all that much. Now isn't there some kind of math rule (geometry maybe?) that could be used to assume I, therefore, don't like the country either?

Who knows...I am not much of a math person. I am much more of a social science person myself. What can I say, I like people! And I suppose that is the explanation as to why I am on one hand I am glad that the health "reform" is making progress across the pond. I like the idea that peope may someday have better access to health services. That's good, right?

So then explain to me all the recent Facebook statuses about how we are all going to die because we are one step closer to becoming a socialist country. These people must also have friends that have been seriously sick and didn't go to the doctor because they didn't have insurance and this couldn't afford it? They must also read the news once in awhile and hear the stories about people struggling with expensive/deadly diseases who also don't have the cash to pay the hospital bills? So why the statuses? Baffling.

So yes, on one hand I am glad that things are this "reform" is getting the support it needs. But on the other hand, I am disappointed that it is not even more extreme. Yes, I would willingly pay more taxes so that everyone had the right to free healthcare. Take that!

No one can say it as well as my buddy Ethan--check out his most recent healthcare post:

Well, the House managed to pass healthcare legislation. Even if the Senate rejects all the amendments they appended to the current bill, the bill as passed by the Senate will be signed into law (unless Obama was joking about the whole signing thing).

Semi-victorious Democrats are calling this "the Civil Rights Act of the 21st century," or comparing the act to the establishment of Social Security or Medicare. Obama perhaps was the most honest in saying: "This isn't radical reform, but it is major reform." Republicans, meanwhile, are demonizing the bill in quite the opposite
terms. They act like the House just passed a law mandating the public
killing of puppies.

It's true, polls indicate that a bare majority of American voters oppose the healthcare bill. These opinions, of course, are based on what Americans think they know about the healthcare bill, rather than an educated understanding of the thing (that might require reading). Nonetheless, they represent a rough guess at the mindset of the American people.

On the other hand, polls still show that the vast majority of Americans are dissatisfied with the status quo, which is what opponents of the bill--and their corporate backers--are fighting to maintain. And if I'd been polled, I would've said that I do not support the current healthcare bill, because I don't. Let's see why!

First, there's no public option. Yes, I understand that a well-executed public option would absolutely gut the private health insurance industry in America. I have absolutely no problem with this. Aside from people in the state of Connecticut, I don't know why any Americans should. What is it about faceless corporations fucking you over that people find so appealing?

All right, accepting that a public option isn't on the table, there's still plenty wrong with the bill. Even by the government's own projections, it leaves 23 million Americans without healthcare insurance. That's about 7.7% of the population, which doesn't seem insignificant to me. (But then, I can run a calculator.)

Also, while it establishes an exchange where insurance companies have to compete with one another, it establishes this exchange on a statewide, not nationwide, level. Meaning that the Washington state exchange has the potential to have drastically different prices from the Oregon state exchange--from the same companies--and that there's nothing you, the consumer, can do about it, other than moving to Oregon.

This is the best sort of exchange system for the insurance companies, because it allows them to maximize their profits. A national-level exchange would've cut a lot of fat out the system--but then, I'm sure Connecticut lobbyists made that well known to our esteemed congresspeople.

I like the idea of requiring employers to insure their employees, but I frankly don't know enough about how this will effect small businesses with limited budgets, and I've heard too much propaganda on both sides to make an accurate judgment. And I have to read 200 pages of shit for my Ottoman class today, so I'm not going to research it.

(Notice what I just did there? I admitted my lack of knowledge and refrained from issuing an opinion or judgment until I gathered more facts on the subject. That's some shit you could learn from, America.)

And I like that, according to the Congressional Budget Office, the plan should reduce the federal deficit by $143 billion in the next ten years. Now if we could just slim down the Pentagon's budget by, I dunno, 75% or so. If wishes were horses...

So, yeah, there's plenty to like in the current healthcare bill. And at least it's fucking something. But the flaws aren't inconsequential--on the contrary, they're central to the plan as it stands.

Point of the story is, we're fucked, and I'm going to marry a Canadian
heiress.
Ethan Jennings

Well bud, I guess I'm one step ahead of you--I've already moved to Norway. Lars isn't an heir or royalty (that I know of) but I'm still here. ;) Good luck finding your Canuck!