The debate rages on in America. To have or have not? Health care, that is.
On the surface, affordable health care for everyone seems like a good idea. But then again, so does communism. But implementing an ideal is another thing. Man’s inherent greed, competitive nature, and downright incompetence can turn the most well-intentioned plan into a complete boondoggle. I could have used much stronger language than “boondoggle”.
There is one showstopping point to President Obama’s universal health care plan that most everyone seems to have overlooked. It’s NOT health care, it’s disease treatment. Think about it.
If the government - and society in general - really cared about people’s health, they’d tackle the nutrition situation. Proper nutrition prevents the majority of illnesses. That’s the heart of all our health problems. Eat right and the body will help heal itself. The body is an efficient machine if it gets the right nutrients. Just like your car running on 87 octane fuel. Try running it on 65 octane and see what happens.
So a true health care plan would include education on nutrition. While most Americans will guffaw at this suggestion, we need to all become vegetarians. Ingesting animal products and processed sugars is like, well, putting sugar in your car’s gas tank. It sputters and dies.
But enough on that subject. Let’s get back to this “disease treatment” reform bill.
The House of Representatives passed their version of the bill on November 7 by a narrow margin of 220-215. On December 24, the Senate passed their version of the bill 60-39. The one missing vote was that of the late Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts.
Since the two arms of government passed different versions of the bill, it will have to be reconciled and voted on again by both houses. If Republican Scott Brown gets elected in Tuesday’s special Senatorial election in Massachusetts, the Senate vote will no doubt end up 60 to 40 and the bill will die. If Democrat Martha Coakley wins, the Senate will most likely still favor the bill.
As things currently stand, no health reform will result in 54 million uninsured Americans by 2019. But the House bill would still leave 17 million uninsured by 2019 and the Senate bill 23 million. The 10 year cost is touted as $1.05 trillion for the House version and $871 billion for the Senate’s. It’s the struggling middle, upper middle, and upper classes that will be footing the bill. This recession has hurt them, too.
The major sticking point for most Americans is that coverage will be mandatory. Not getting insurance coverage will result in some sort of fines or penalty tax. That’s outrageous!
Another taint is that in order for the Senate to get the necessary vote of Democrat Ben Nelson, a former insurance industry lawyer and consultant, they granted the state of Nebraska $100 million over 10 years to cover expansion costs of Medicare. The main beneficary: insurance companies writing policies in Nebraska. There were other abuses, trade-offs, and compromises in both house’s bills.
So we’ve gone full circle. Back to greed and incompetence. Is affordable health care a good thing? Yes. Can we trust the government to oversee it? Not hardly.
Back to the drawing board.
- Mountain Man and City Girl
http://www.MountainManandCityGirl.com
The blogsite of Jewell Real Estate Agency, Wildwood Crest, NJ