Finally! Universal health care!
It's the Fourth of July, & the U.S. is 236 years young! Americans have an especially good reason to celebrate today--though not everyone would agree--for almost a week ago, a controversial law that will provide universal health coverage by 2014 is now in place. I call it a step in the right direction. Soon we will all have to pay for our own health insurance and in doing so, essentially help each other get affordable health coverage.
Here's President Obama on the historic moment.
That was last Thursday when the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the President's Affordable Care Act, which aims to help all Americans acquire health insurance and essentially weaken the grip insurance companies have on our health coverage. Now no one can be turned down because of preexisting conditons, children can stay on their parents insurance until age 26, and everyone will be insured by 2014 because everyone will be mandated to buy insurance by then.
This last provision is especially contentious among people who are really opposed to any kind of governmental involvement in healthcare, and I completely understand. The mandate is tough enough to take initially even for those of us who support this law--being forced to do anything by the government is not pleasant. I can imagine how much tougher it must be for a diehard Republican who wants the government completely out of the nation's healthcare to be told he or she now has to buy health insurance. I get how it can be so infuriating.
However, here's why I think it will work. Btw, this is nothing new. It will work precisely because everyone will be covered. And if everyone--both the healthy and the sick--has health insurance, there will be more money for everyone's healthcare, which will then drive the prices down. Plus, with nobody uninsured, not only will tax money not have to cover anybody's illness, no one will go to financial ruin just because they lack health insurance.
It's universal healthcare not socialized. We are still paying for our own health coverage not the government. As it is now, our tax dollars are actually paying for people's medical bills because so many are uninsured. By following the mandate to buy insurance, we will be paying for our own healthcare and helping others pay for theirs. It makes good fiscal sense. We are essentially promoting health not only for ourselves but for the whole country. That's a good thing.
This country has always thrived on competition; the Affordable Care Act will not put a stop to that. Medical services and insurance providers will still compete for our patronage. As we move forward, we need to start thinking about each other however different we are. We are a diverse society; that's just the way it is. We need to start thinking of the people who make up this country not only those who think like us.
This law may still be struck down, or it may permanently be put in place and work as expected or it may need to be tweaked and evolve to meet the needs of the entire nation. Whatever the future brings, I believe the U.S. Supreme Court made the right decision, and I believe that the country is facing a future with a greater sense of community that is more humane, caring and healthy.
Here's President Obama on the historic moment.
That was last Thursday when the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the President's Affordable Care Act, which aims to help all Americans acquire health insurance and essentially weaken the grip insurance companies have on our health coverage. Now no one can be turned down because of preexisting conditons, children can stay on their parents insurance until age 26, and everyone will be insured by 2014 because everyone will be mandated to buy insurance by then.
This last provision is especially contentious among people who are really opposed to any kind of governmental involvement in healthcare, and I completely understand. The mandate is tough enough to take initially even for those of us who support this law--being forced to do anything by the government is not pleasant. I can imagine how much tougher it must be for a diehard Republican who wants the government completely out of the nation's healthcare to be told he or she now has to buy health insurance. I get how it can be so infuriating.
However, here's why I think it will work. Btw, this is nothing new. It will work precisely because everyone will be covered. And if everyone--both the healthy and the sick--has health insurance, there will be more money for everyone's healthcare, which will then drive the prices down. Plus, with nobody uninsured, not only will tax money not have to cover anybody's illness, no one will go to financial ruin just because they lack health insurance.
It's universal healthcare not socialized. We are still paying for our own health coverage not the government. As it is now, our tax dollars are actually paying for people's medical bills because so many are uninsured. By following the mandate to buy insurance, we will be paying for our own healthcare and helping others pay for theirs. It makes good fiscal sense. We are essentially promoting health not only for ourselves but for the whole country. That's a good thing.
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| A sense of community. Group yoga at Bryant Park in New York City. |
This country has always thrived on competition; the Affordable Care Act will not put a stop to that. Medical services and insurance providers will still compete for our patronage. As we move forward, we need to start thinking about each other however different we are. We are a diverse society; that's just the way it is. We need to start thinking of the people who make up this country not only those who think like us.
This law may still be struck down, or it may permanently be put in place and work as expected or it may need to be tweaked and evolve to meet the needs of the entire nation. Whatever the future brings, I believe the U.S. Supreme Court made the right decision, and I believe that the country is facing a future with a greater sense of community that is more humane, caring and healthy.
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