There has been an enormous amount of FUD (fear, uncertainty and doubt) spread around by those who want to see the current status quo continue – ie, a few big insurance companies adding 25-30% to the cost of health care for us all. They see a government health care plan as threatening their guaranteed profits, and have somehow managed to convince quite a number of people that corporate profits are somehow more of a “right” than health care.

They would like us to believe both that:

• Government health care would be grossly inefficient.
• Private insurance companies would be unable to compete and therefore go out of business.

How could both of those be true? If the private companies are both more expensive and less efficient than government, shouldn’t they deserve to go out of business?

Next, adding a government option is portrayed as taking away our freedom.

Now, what freedoms does adding a choice take away? The freedom to lose your coverage if you become seriously ill? The freedom to lose your coverage if you lose your job?

If you currently have your own individual insurance, are you happy with the choices you were given? If anyone in your family has any chronic conditions, go shop for your choices if you become unhappy with your current provider. For at least a year, you would be paying both your premiums and the full cost of treating that chronic pre-existing condition.

For anyone currently covered under an employer plan, go try that exercise. Tell me how “free” you feel to quit your job and start your own business.

This entry was posted on Thursday, August 20th, 2009 at 4:50 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.