Since President Obama has taken office, there has been lots of noise made on the Hill about health care reform and the issue of government provided health care to American citizens. All of the talk about reforming healthcare and fixing our healthcare system has been the subject of unfocused anger spewed from both side of the aisle by legislators and political commentators alike. The arguments have been pretty typical, some of the democrats are pushing for a national health-care plan that most likely includes a "public option'. On the other side, stands the GOP along with their allies, the insurance companies and the American Medical Association (the AMA) are crying out "socialized medicine" and the other tired generalizations about government programs for the public good. This entire argument is utterly ridiculous, because the real argument is not about fixing our health-care system. The United States does not have a comprehensive health-care system and this reform that is being proposed will not be comprehensive either. The United States has a disease care system. The worst part is the disease is not curable or even treatable; this disease will always be prevalent in America. The disease is the dollar.
The interests groups like the AMA and the insurance companies stand to get cut out of their continuous pot of gold that will fall their way if Obama and the Democrats are able to pass their toothless healthcare bill. If the Democrats' concessions to the Right, and to the base of corporate America, puts together a reform bill with a 'market mandate' on health insurance like auto insurance the insurance providers are the big winner of this legislation. A mandate would bring 50 million Americans to slaughter by making them buy ineffective health insurance that provides care to the healthy and rejects the sick. This is a growing trend in this administration, big business is the winner of the policies coming out of Washington and the loser is the American people.
The biggest question for our entire situation is this, how can the richest country in the world allow corporations to mortgage its citizens' health on the basis of money? How can our government justify private insurance corporations reaping the financial rewards for denying patient claims and denying payments for treatment of care? This is not socialism, just a rational idea. Too bad rational thought seems to be void on Capitol Hill most of the time (The Senate just voted to apologize for slavery this year, only 144 years late). We are supposed to be living in a modern society. That is what societies do, they protect their citizens. It is just sad that our society is sick and there is no protection in sight. We are riddled with a disease that no health-care reform bill can cure. Americans have been stricken with the disease of the dollar and even President Obama can't change that.
