Still Don't Get It
I’m clearly too ill to understand what the opposition to health care reform is all about. Is there really anyone who doesn’t want sick or injured people taken care of?
I suppose some people are afraid that the government would be making health care decisions for them. But why is this worse than an insurance company doing so?
No doubt pro-life advocates have concerns that the government would be paying for abortions, but this just isn’t the case—and even if it were, why would anyone who’s not terminating a pregnancy care?
Another possibility is that folks are nervous about the government having access to their health records; but look, anyone who pays taxes has already opened up their kimono to Washington, so what’s the problem?
Obviously, lots of conservatives are simply against anything Obama supports, but are they really so rabid that they’d deny medical care to people just to get their way?
Ironically, plenty of people who support health insurance reform are healthy, reasonably fit middle-class liberals like me; lots of those who oppose it are overweight, sallow-complected, conservatives like Rush Limbaugh; you’d think that since I’m likely to be paying for services I don’t use (unless I wreck my bike without wearing a helmet), that I’d be the one yelling at my congressman in the town hall meeting.
What’s weird is that I’m sure everyone agrees that nobody who’s sick or injured shouldn’t be cared for. Why can’t this be the starting point for discussion? Why isn’t everyone asking how can we make sure that everyone has the medical care they need?
My dad always wanted me to follow in his footsteps and be a doctor; that is, until he didn’t. When I was about 30, he told me that the medical profession was so screwed up, he was glad I didn’t go into it. He did, though, take great pleasure in charging lawyers $350.00 an hour to be an expert witness in court.
I suppose some people are afraid that the government would be making health care decisions for them. But why is this worse than an insurance company doing so?
No doubt pro-life advocates have concerns that the government would be paying for abortions, but this just isn’t the case—and even if it were, why would anyone who’s not terminating a pregnancy care?
Another possibility is that folks are nervous about the government having access to their health records; but look, anyone who pays taxes has already opened up their kimono to Washington, so what’s the problem?
Obviously, lots of conservatives are simply against anything Obama supports, but are they really so rabid that they’d deny medical care to people just to get their way?
Ironically, plenty of people who support health insurance reform are healthy, reasonably fit middle-class liberals like me; lots of those who oppose it are overweight, sallow-complected, conservatives like Rush Limbaugh; you’d think that since I’m likely to be paying for services I don’t use (unless I wreck my bike without wearing a helmet), that I’d be the one yelling at my congressman in the town hall meeting.
What’s weird is that I’m sure everyone agrees that nobody who’s sick or injured shouldn’t be cared for. Why can’t this be the starting point for discussion? Why isn’t everyone asking how can we make sure that everyone has the medical care they need?
My dad always wanted me to follow in his footsteps and be a doctor; that is, until he didn’t. When I was about 30, he told me that the medical profession was so screwed up, he was glad I didn’t go into it. He did, though, take great pleasure in charging lawyers $350.00 an hour to be an expert witness in court.
posted by Professor Dave at 11:06 AM
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