Here we go...Edwards health care plan REQUIRES that you go to the doctor. This is exactly why the other side gets to knock the Dems with chants of Nanny State and socialized medicine. My insurance company offers incentives for preventative care but they don't require it. I'm not even sure you can make this stick.
What says you?
Chris
They say healthcare will be one of the big issues in the upcoming campaign. I'm not so sure. Oh, don't get me wrong, I think it will be talked about a lot, I'm just not sure whether we will REALLY look at it. It's complicated, real discussions don't lend themselves to soundbites and any kind of real change in the Healthcare system will be hard and painful and costly. We know how politicians love to talk about those kind of problems.
I'm not sure what I think of the healthcare issue. I took a class in it in college and honest to God, all I can remember is that the real nitty-gritty of the issue is incredibly boring--or at least it was on a Friday afternoon when I was 20.
But maybe we should start to take a look at it...
There was quite the heated discussion going on about Health Care in one of our comment sections. The debate sprung from a discussion of illegal immigration and just kind of spread from there. So, I thought I'd bring the topic to the front page...and ask you to weigh in and tell me what you think...
For those who think that health care is a "right," I'd like to know what that means. Is it the same kind of right as life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness? Or does it fall into a different category...
For those of you who don't think it is a right, what is it? Is health care merely something those with money can afford? Is there no governmental interest in seeing to it that the citizens of this country are able to avail themselves of medical care?
Now, after all of that...politics aside...when you think of what you want for this country, what you want us to be, where does health care fit in to that picture? There are going to be a lot of these questions in the coming weeks and I am honestly seeking opinions of all kinds... So, let her rip... Chris
Yesterday, in the Washington Post, there was an article titled Medical Practices Blend Health and Faith. I read it a bunch of times over the course of the day because I found it so thought provoking.
Now, I honestly do believe that you have the right to determine what you will and will not do based on--well, based on whatever floats your boat. If religion is your thing, then I think that using that as the basis to decide what you will do in the course of your life as well as your job is fine. If it isn't religion, but rather your own personal set of ethics that determine your personal limits that is cool with me as well. I respect people who draw lines in the sand and live by principle.
Here is my caveat to that--
if maybe we are asking the wrong questions? I was reading the numbers that the government released on poverty and income and those covered by health insurance (article here) and it suddenly occured to me that I didn't care about the way the government presented the numbers.
I don't care how many blacks or whites or hispanics fall where on the poverty line. Maybe that is because I'm white, but I don't think so. It interests me more where the people like me are falling. I want to know about two parent households with three kids, I want to know about college educated people, I want to know how people who have "major" health care costs that fall outside insurance coverage are doing.
I want to know about the people who are doing everything "right." I want to know about those people who are tightening their belts and not spending money on stuff they don't need. I want to know about the people who bit the bullet and stayed in school or got training. I want these numbers to tell me the real story about who is making it and who is better off.
I want to know these things because the numbers as they are mean nothing to me. We are a middle-class family and we work hard and we do all the things we are supposed to do and we are barely making it. All it would take for us to not make it would be another terrorist attack where the economy goes kafluee for a while, or one more unexpected bill, or one more increase in our health insurance premiums that aren't covering what we need them to cover.
Those people who read here regularly know me--a little. They know that I am big into personal responsibility. They know that I am a big believer in working hard. They know that while the softer side of me feels for people that I don't put any stock in excuses like my mother never loved me or my ancestors were slaves or I don't know any better. It seems to me though, that you can do everything right and still have it not work out. That you can work hard, and tighten your belts, and plan for the future and not make any excuses and not ask for handouts and it still isn't enough...
Those are the people I want to know about, because like it or not, our government does do things to impact the economy and jobs and health insurance and prices and all of those things and it seems to me that we would know better how all of that is going if we measured all of these statistics in a different way. You want to keep numbers on race? Fine. I don't care, go ahead. That isn't what interests me. I want to know about the people like me.
Chris
Spell check is down, please forgive the errors...
For those of you who know more than me, which pretty much includes all of you, I want to know what Health Insurance is for. What is the point?
I ask because I am obviously mis-informed about its whole purpose.
Enlighten me. Please.
Chris
