Health care

The hot topic lately seems to be the health care reform bill that was passed by congress and is in the supreme courts now. The debate over health care has been an exhausting long drawn out ordeal that seems to be hard to find a middle ground on.

The debates over government control and the fear that Americans constitutional liberties are being threatened is not one that I can buy into. I admit I was less than excited when I learned that we would be required to buy insurance, but the new laws for the insurance companies that prevent them denying coverage to children with preexisting conditions quickly got me back on track along with expanding Medicaid and increasing Medicaid taxes by 3.8 percent for household incomes over $250,000, as well as placing taxes on unearned income like dividends, interest and capitol gains. These few things helped me feel that we would not be the only ones having to grow up and take responsibility.

Like many Americans my husband and I are struggling to get by and make ends meet. We live in constant concern that if one of us comes down with a serious illness we will not be able to get treatment. Therefore the requirement to get insured is not absurd to me because I know that it’s the only way we would be likely to break down and find a way to get insured.

The reasons I cannot buy into the infringement of constitutional liberties arguments are because I have watched two people close to me get cancer and not be able to afford treatment for the illness. The harsh realities of watching a loved one die because you have no money for treatment was something I had no idea even happened until it did to my family. The argument of unconstitutional requirements changes after watching a loved one die for lack of treatment. The idea of liberty changes when someone you love is unable to get an operation they need. Being sick and alone does not seem so much like liberty to me anymore; one ends up feeling very oppressed after going through a life changing ordeal like that. 

I think the health care reform is a new wave of civilization for American just as Medicaid was in the 1960’s. Some are crying infringement on constitutional liberties but I will be calling it progress.