Tuesday, February 8, 2011

I AGREE WITH OBAMA

Finally I've heard President Obama say something about health care that I can agree with wholeheartedly.  In a recent news interview talking about health care reform, he said he didn't think a person should "have to go bankrupt to pay for health care" in this country.  I definitely agree with him there.  We do live in the richest nation in the world and there is no good reason why anyone in this country should have to be destroyed financially because they get sick.

However, what the President and Judge Vinson (Florida judge who declared it unconstitutional for the federal government to require individuals to purchase insurance coverage) may or may not be missing here is, individuals who would be required to purchase health insurance under the health care reform bill are not necessarily people who stubbornly refuse to buy coverage, but most likely are ones who simply can't afford to do so.  I certainly would love to have insurance coverage again, especially after having a couple of heart attacks and heart surgery, but there is simply no way possible for me to stretch my income to pay for it.  As it turned out, I was able to negotiate with health care providers and settle my debts for much less than originally billed.  So in my case it all worked out and I avoided going broke. 

Perhaps what we really need is to make sure people are aware of programs already in place to help those who cannot afford health insurance coverage. 

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