Saturday, September 5, 2009

A Brief Healthcare Interview with Leaflet

A savvy friend of mine asked me these questions for a student article. Given the subject I think it is fitting to share them with you:

1 What are your opinions on the Obama administration wanting to create a system where every citizen of U.S. has guaranteed health care?

Reforming healthcare is long overdue but there shouldn’t be compromise for something mediocre to appease Republicans in the senate. Right now Obama has an ambiguous stance as to whether or not he will stand strong behind a public option and veto anything “lukewarm." To implement, say a CO-OP system, would be waste of a bill when Republicans are inevitably going to vote against it, regardless.

2 In your opinion, do you think the government is trying to control the health insurance of citizens?

The government will regulate insurance, not control it. The people who are spoon feeding that government has an ambition to limit care unnecessarily want to extract words from their meaning and attach negative connotations to them. Words like “socialism." Those who are truly against socialist ideology should be protesting their fire department, not the new bill.

3 Do you think this will have a positive or negative effect on citizens in the future?

Put it into perspective on how Medicare was attacked at first. The opposition swore up and down that these programs like Medicare or Social Security were going to fail. My Dad just had quadruple bypass heart surgery. After the surgery he had an in-house nurse come check on him twice a week. His Medicare covered the entirety of his costs.

4 What do you think that Obama's true motives are behind this is?

To ask how I feel about Obama’s “true” motives is to suggest that I suspect some sort of underlying conspiracy. That’s the kind of paranoia that’s fueling the secessionists, the tea parties and birthers in this country.

5 In your opinion, do you like the way health insurance is provided now?

Some representatives are trying to use loopholes to insist our system is fine. For instance, Florida Senator Mel Martinez says that the U.S. has the best access to care in his response letter on the issue. What he means is we have the best emergency care. Many others who are using this as a talking point oppose preventative healthcare. Prevention is the key to hindering complications that would lead to last minute procedures in the emergency room.

6 Has health insurance been an inconvenience to you, or your family before?

I recently went to a free clinic for an infection because, as a student and part time employee, I do not have coverage. I called them and the phone rang for twenty minutes. Their email, which I attempted after hanging up, does not really exist despite being posted on their site. I wrote the address down and drove to their building to find a sign that said they had been moved to another location. When I got there, one hour after they opened, in the waiting room were already over a dozen people. Not exactly a nominal experience. Imagine if I didn’t have a car or a phone.

7 The AARP campaign busted the "myths" of guaranteed health care, such as medicare being taken away, rationed care, government takeover, government making life or death decisions, having an economic crisis, etc... What are your views on these issues? Do you think these are just myths, or do you think it can and will be a problem?

Myths like the death panels, for example, can't be found in the written bill. Private insurance companies profit in bonuses from their investors by denying care. Those who recall Linda Peeno’s confession know that the real death panels exist within the private insurance companies.


* More articles from Leaflet at Leaflet Descending

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