Majority of Healthcare Debate Misses the Point

I’ve got to ask something of you right now. You know that rambling bunch of crazies protesting healthcare? Sure, you’ve seen them with their “Obama’s Hitler” and “Obama is a Fascist Liberal Commie Nazi” signs. Amusing and disturbing at the same time, right? Well, I want you to put them in a box for a little bit. Lock it down tight, now. We don’t want any shouts of “I left my gun at home..this time” to escape. But don’t throw away the key–it’s important we keep an eye on the crazies. Right now though, they’re  just too distracting when dancing and babbling out in the daylight.

Whew. Now that they’re out of the way, we can get down to work. Healthcare. It’s a big issue. Many of us have a vested interest in it. I know that as a self-employed writer, I notice my healthcare premiums go up every six months or so. I also know that paying nearly $200 a month on said premiums is a bit ridiculous considering I am a 25 year old woman in good health. If something doesn’t change soon, I’ll be priced right out of any healthcare at all. Which means the emergency room will become my treatment center of choice. Not exactly the way I’d like to move forward in my life.

Another thing I know is there are millions of people out there way worse off than me. People without any insurance at all, those with insurance but have poor coverage, and those with premiums skyrocketing through the roof. Even worse, there are those that had insurance but were dropped as soon as they became ill. 

We can debate over the particulars of healthcare in other posts; in fact, we plan on it. There’s a lot to discuss with regards to what belongs in the healthcare bill, what doesn’t, and why blue dog Democrats can’t get their shit together and agree to vote for a bill their constituents want and need. We’ll get to all that later, because right now I want to focus on what really matters. The one thing in this mind-numbing healthcare debate that’s been glossed over and ignored. You ready for it?

Healthcare reform is the right thing to do.

There, I said it. The particulars need to be ironed out, yes. But on the whole, reforming our corrupted, unfair and unjust healthcare system is the right thing to do. We can’t rightly claim that this is the “best country in the world,” with the healthcare system in a shambles and millions of people uninsured. We can’t make these claims and allow insurance companies to stand between doctors and patients. And we most certainly can’t make these claims so long as how much money you make determines whether or not you get to live or die.

Healthcare is a right. Period. You can be a bum. You can even be one of those “welfare queens” the right loves to play up so much. I don’t care what your status in life is. I don’t care how hard you work. You are a human being and that fact alone entitles you to healthcare. The fact that this notion has been largely ignored disturbs me. Yes, healthcare must be paid for in a responsible way, but wouldn’t the positive benefits of insuring everyone pay dividends for decades to come?

What do you think? Do you think the majority of the argument on healthcare thus far has missed the point? Should healthcare be a right or a privilege? Let us known what you think in the comments section.