I have a thought experiment for you. Jack Jackson is an all American kind of guy. He's a staunch conservative. He attends church every Sunday. He loves Jesus, his parents, America, and apple pie. Jack strongly believes in earning a living. He doesn't think people should be given hand outs from the government. He cringes at the thought of some lazy slob living off of welfare, paid for by his taxes.
Jack grew up in Mississippi. He was a single child in a lower middle class family. Neither of his parents went to college. Jack was a fairly bright kid and he was the first person in his immediate family to go to college. His parents were very proud of him. Since his parents were not wealthy and couldn't afford to pay for his college education Jack had to take out student loans.
Jack found a great job after college. He was hired by a company that produced widgets. He had a strong work ethic and after working for the widget company for 10 years he became highly valued in the company.
Now Jack being a sharp guy, began to recognize an opportunity in the widget production industry. He realized that there was a much needed service that his company could benefit from as well as other widget manufacturers. So Jack thought about this opportunity and created a business plan. Jack received a business loan to get his new company started.
Jack was living the American capitalist's dream. He was a self made, young entrepreneur with a good idea and he was on his way to creating a successful company. As Jack prepared to leave his current employer he realized that his employer paid 70% of his his health insurance. Now jack paid $45 per month for his health insurance and the total health insurance costs he would pay on his own would be $150 per month. Jack also found out that on his own, he would not be able to find health insurance with the same coverage for that rate since his current employer received a better rate than an individual could get.
Now Jack was in his early 30's and in good health. Jack was single and didn't have a family. Jack also realized that he would need to be very careful with his expenses until his new company began to bring in revenue. So Jack took a calculated risk and decided not to purchase health insurance on his own while he was getting his new company up and running.
A few months later, Jack was driving to church one morning. It was foggy out and a deer ran across the road. Jack didn't have enough time to react. The deer came through the windshield of his truck. Jack's truck ran off the road and struck a tree. Jack was severely injured in the accident. He had a broken leg, a broken arm, broken ribs, and other internal injuries.
Jack found himself in a situation he never imagined he would be in. He didn't have health insurance and he had exorbitant medical costs. Jack was also missing timely business opportunities while he recovered from his injuries and his new company was not looking as promising. He was effectively unemployed, and he still had student loans, a business loan, an auto loan, credit card debt, and his other living expenses.
The Ugly Truth
This is not an entirely difficult situation to imagine. In fact there are many situations that can be easily imagined where Americans can find themselves with out health insurance. The point is the system by which Americans are provided affordable health insurance has huge gaps. Basically most Americans are offered health insurance through their employer. But not all employers are requires to provide health insurance. People who work for companies that do not provide health insurance or people who work as contractors are left to find health insurance on their own. People who have been laid off are similarly left without health insurance. They have the option for COBRA but when you've been laid off, COBRA isn't always an affordable option. Also companies are not mandated on the type of health insurance they offer. What if you find yourself in a situation where your employer decides to offer overly burdensome and minimal health insurance?
Just think about health care as we know it and what it is meant to provide. Basically to receive affordable and decent health care insurance, we need to be employed by a sufficiently large company that offers decent health care plans. We need to be relatively healthy with no major pre existing conditions (otherwise you are not profitable to cover). If you fall outside of this model, and a very large number of people do, then you either have very minimal or no health care insurance.
Also if you look at the current model, it doesn't fit most people today. Most middle class Americans change jobs several times in their life time. We don't stay with one employer for most of our lives. If we ever develop a health condition during that time we then run the risk of not being able to receive health insurance if we decide to switch employers, or if we are laid off. The current model just does not make sense when you stop and think about it.
A Reasonable Plan
So what did the recent health care bill attempt to do? It attempts to provide a public option plan. This is health insurance that the government can offer at a group rate, like companies do, that is provided by private insurance companies. It's not government run health care. It's just the government offering private insurance plans the same way a company does to provide its employees affordable insurance. It's not subsidized by taxes, but the government will employee people manage the program so some taxes will go to this. The public option is group rate plan, that is available to people outside of their employer. Yes it's a plan managed and offered by the government but it's not government run health care.
What does the public option attempt to solve? Obviously it's an affordable option for people who do not have health insurance through an employer. Also the rational is that the more people who are covered by some insurance, will hopefully mean fewer people receiving health care through the E.R. that do not have insurance and no way to pay for their care, thus lowering the total health costs for everyone.
The health care bill also attempts to keep insurance companies from refusing coverage for preexisting conditions. It also attempts to allow dependents to stay on their parents health care plans longer.
Criticism
Does the bill allow illegal immigrants to receive free health care, paid for by tax payers? Of course not. Does this bill allow tax dollars to pay for abortions? Of course not. Does this bill set up death panels? Of course not. Does the bill create a federal fat police? Of course not. Is the bill perfect? Of course not. What bill that has ever been passed can be called perfect?
If you find yourself critical of this health care bill and you are supporting politicians who plan to attempt to repeal this bill, ask yourself why you dislike the health care bill so much. If you have a particular problem with something that someone told you this bill does, make sure you read it for yourself. Make sure you really know what you are angry about. If someone tells you this bill is going to cost everyone more in health care costs, ask them how. If someone tells you this bill is going to pay for abortions with federal taxes, ask them to show where the bill states that.
The fact is the US does not have the best health care in the world. We also spend more on health care than any other industrialized nation and a large number of Americans are not able to receive health care through no fault of their own. If you do have health insurance and you are against this bill, ask yourself why. If you think you have valid reasons why you dislike the health care bill, make sure those reasons are based on first hand knowledge. Find the facts for yourself, because there are a lot of people who are against this bill for reasons that have nothing to do with health care or how effective this bill may or may not be.
