Reaching New Lows: Health Care in America

The health care debate in the United States has fallen into the same pit that most public interest bills of the last several decades call their home-instead of a functional, affordable bill that meets the needs of the constituents, we get a bill that stuffs the pockets of special interest groups and props up the sagging for-profit structure it is meant to repair.

When the health care bill first emerged from the House of Representatives, it showed marginal progress towards a goal that every other industrialized nation in the world has long ago achieved-a functional public health care system that views the health of the nation's citizens as intricately connected to its economy and vitality. In a country renowned for its wealth, the US Census Bureau reported over 12% percent of our population remains uninsured, a startlingly high number. Even more are underinsured, receiving sub par medical care when they are unable to pay for the benefits of our wealth as a nation.

Yet, we have a public health plan of sorts; it's called the emergency room. Thousands of individuals stream into the emergency room every year for a myriad of health concerns, ranging for large to minute. As a resident of the Queen City, where the young demographic is mostly employed in customer service or restaurant work, I have seen first hand the effects of this sort of care, from my boyfriends seven thousand dollar debt from an emergency appendectomy, to my neighbor's job loss as a result of missed work due to an eye infection that took three days to get treated for $300 (the recommended treatment? A hot washcloth compress). Why $300? Because the majority of these patients cannot pay the bill, and those that can foot the rest. If it's reasonable to expect the uninsured to pay $300 for a hot compress, it seems reasonable to tax the extremely wealthy to help with the exploding costs of our healthcare system.

The House, in a shocking moment of clarity, agreed with me on this issue. But the Senate maintained their bureaucratic demeanor, reducing a bill that offered the promise of real change to a token gesture that will do nothing to curb the rising cost of care in America. And the White House, in its desire to see a bill passed, goaded by their desire to claim progress for first year of Obama's Presidency, is willing to back whatever will pass and call it gold.

Annual limits equal cancer patients selling their houses, no set limit for what the insurance companies can charge equals years of economic turmoil as the fines for those that refuse to buy insurance come into play and those that cannot afford their portion of the cost spiral into debt. In a city like Buffalo, this means that none of my young and struggling friends will be improving their credit score any time in the near future.

When will Washington realize that they work for us, and not the other way around? I do not want a health care bill to pay for Nebraska's Medicare. I do not want a health care bill to boost profits for the insurance company. I do not want a health care bill so that I can have a free ride. I want a health care bill because it's the right ethical decision for us to make as a global leader in human rights, and because public services are the reason I pay taxes.