Follow Up On The Health Care Plan

The health care plan is not socialism. That word really grates on me and comes from far ring wing Republicans. The plan is very Christian in nature; forget politics entirely.

Consider: We're the only nation in the industrialized nations where getting ill can -- and often does -- bankrupt families. Medicare is "socialized" medicine (by the Republican definition of socialism, Stalin's era would clue them in on actual Socialism), and Medicare seems to work well for older folks except for the "donut hole" which the new plan would fix.

The fact that people presently have to remain in jobs, even if they don't want to, because of its health care coverage if they have preexisting conditions (which would get them denied coverage on an individual or other plan) should concern us all, because insurance companies can (and do in many cases) cancel health coverage if too many claims are made or the insured has additional health issues. So what we have now is an an illusion of health care coverage -- not the real deal. There are limits it will pay and when it can refuse you because of too many claims, it will. Because the way it's designed now, only healthy people can get and keep it. It has happened to a lot of families. I know some of them. Just because it may not be affecting your family right now should not make you feel any more secure.

The only reason the administration is eager to push the bill through so fast is because with every passing day there is so much more misinformation and garbage being put out about it by special interests just to SCARE people. The hope is that the lies will cause people to vote against their best interests based on amorphous fears alone.

Obama doesn't want to run health care, the car business, the banking business, or anything else we've been told he's dying to do. He's trying to bail us out of years of deregulation and selfish profiteering to a point where no one thinks about anyone other than themselves anymore.

He campaigned to help us. We voted for him by a surprisingly wide margin to lead us. I believe, to the core of my being, that leading us to a better day is his honest intention. He is not even a liberal, let alone a socialist. He's a Robert Kennedy kind of Democrat.

The only thing he wants in the health care bill are the following guarantees:

No discrimination for pre-existing conditions; all should receive coverage (because all people are of equal value as God's children)

No exorbitant out-of-pocket expenses, deductibles or co-pays

No cost-sharing for preventive care

No dropping of coverage for the seriously ill

No gender discrimination

No annual or lifetime caps on coverage

Extended coverage for young adults

Guaranteed coinsurance renewal.

We elected Obama to lead us forward. If we want to throw roadblocks in front of everything he's trying to do, it's important to know why.

None of what "the sky is falling" folks have shared with me passes the smell test. I think a lot of people are buying into scare tactics without studying the subject carefully. I have been.

I didn't vote for many years because I was so disgusted with politics and the political system -- and I'm getting disgusted again, but not because of what Obama is trying to do -- because of how deeply-entrenched the special interests have become, to a point where we will swallow their crap whole and not even gag as it goes down.

We need someone looking out for us. I think this bill establishes accountability where our health care is concerned, and that scares a lot of people who have been making big bucks while the voiceless, weak and underserved (who works their butts off at multiple jobs and also pay into our system) suffer. I will be their voice. They matter to me as much as they matter to God. They're HIS kids, too.

If any of those reading this disagree with the bill in legitimate, line-by-line ways that you can show me, please don't take any of this as anything against you. I respect your right to disagree if you can show me what you're actually talking about. Believe me: I'm not against you! I believe this bill will help you every bit as much as it helps the others it needs to help.

This is one hill I'm willing to die on: Every human being in America should be able to get sick and find compassionate professionals and entities standing in the gap for them so they don't lose everything. Anything less is Darwinism -- survival of the fittest and the rest be damned.

Our present health care system is a black eye to our nation and to our system of government. THAT'S why it needs to change and as long as people stand and scream at each other or assign labels like Socialism to worthy attempts to find answers, something is very, very wrong...