Health Care for All?

The health care debate is baffling to me. I've been following some conservative talk radio on the subject, which led me to the conclusion that most of the debate is carried on by greedy doctors, greedy insurance executives, and the paranoid elderly. However, I can't say much was cleared up by my visit to the President's website either. What exactly is in this bill?

The health of Americans sucks. That we can all agree on. Preventable diseases like obesity and diabetes plague us. Women are often not covered, even if they have insurance, for basic, necessary preventive care for things like pregnancy. We allow drug companies to advertise their medications on the television. Patients should not be "asking their doctors about what Mr. Jones' Magic Snake Oil can do for you!" That's absurd. Doctors should be well-versed in diseases and stay up to date on advances in treatment. Asking your doctor about a medication should not be confused as the only requirement to being an educated patient. As a young adult, I have witnessed my peers go without medical treatment, until the situation turned critical (and incidentally more expensive), because they did not have insurance. I personally have gone through the process of buying private health insurance. (It was expensive and filled with loopholes, and in the future I would probably just take my chances and go without, since any major medical crisis would have bankrupted us anyway.)

So, clearly there's a problem. I'm really excited about Health Care Reform. But I'm not sure this bill is going to make things better.

When I looked this morning to find some answers about this bill, I realized it will be a time-consuming process.

The one thing I am certain about is that insurance companies, as they operate now, do not have patients' best interests at heart. They want to make money, and without regulation, they will do that in any way possible. Corporations are not safer custodians of our health than the government.