Informed Decision a Must for the Health Care Reform Bill

There's been a lot of controversy surrounding Obama's pet project, the Health Care Reform Bill. Democrats say most Americans will benefit from this reform while Republicans say most Americans don't want this reform. Politicians in Washington are constantly trying to persuade us that this isn't a bipartisan issue, but it sure looks like it from here. The biggest problem for the average American in all of this is determining what the health care bill actually says. The full bill can be read at Scribd. Good luck trying to decipher it. For those that want to read a version of the bill in plain English, you can go to the White House websitefor a page-by-page summary, but naturally this is coming from the perspective of the Obama administration and should be read as such. Yet another summary of the key points on the Free Republic website

makes the bill sound like an attempt to establish an Authoritarian government. This is pretty much the case with any summary you come across. If the website is liberal the summary of the bill will be supportive and focus on all the positive aspects of the bill. If the website is conservative it will bash the bill and point out all the negative aspects of it. This is nothing new, but for such an important bill the average American should really have a resource through which to judge the bill on its own merits rather than through the lens of a special interest group.

To boil the issue down into its simplest form, it is an attempt of the government to regulate health care for all Americans. Basically an individual's opinion on this issue will be decided on whether or not they believe government should be involved in health care. As Americans we are extremely attached to our sense of individuality and anything government mandated doesn't sit well with us. Supporters of the bill would argue that there are far too many Americans not getting affordable health care that something has to be done. The majority of the developed countries in the world have some sort of national health care, and it seems to be working just fine for most of them. The question is, will it work for us?

One of the big problems with the bill is that there won't be an option to opt-out of the national health care. Everyone will be enrolled. The problem with this is that many Americans already have health care and don't want to have to foot the bill for those that can't afford it. This might be seen as selfishness by some. But if a person has worked hard to be able to get health care, they aren't likely to want to spend their hard earned money on someone else who, for all they know, could be taking advantage of the free ride. The well-off end up paying for the health care of these individuals anyway whether they realize it or not. Every time someone without health insurance gets admitted to the emergency room someone ends up paying the bill, and often it isn't the patient. Is there no middle ground in this?Regardless of your opinion on the Health Care Reform Bill what really matters is that you have an informed opinion. Too many people rely on the opinions of others to form their view on this topic. Do your own research. Read articles from both liberal and conservative viewpoints before making your decision. And please, don't become one of the rabble of conservative protesters

that yelled racial slurs at black lawmakers and insults at openly gay Rep. Barney Frank in response to their support of the bill. We can handle this like civilized people.

Sources:
"Health Care "Reconciliation" Bill " Scribd
"Summary of the President's Health Care Bill" White House Website
CMS "Little Gems From the Health Care Bill" Free Republic
Ted Barrett, Evan Glass, and Lesa Jansen "Protesters Hurl Slurs and Spit at Democrats" CNN