Rep. Joe Wilson Shouted "You Lie" but Obama's Health Insurance Plan is the Truth

The South Carolina Republican Joe Wilson who shouted "You lie!" at a press conference may have felt he was justified and gave that half-hearted apology, but one thing he did succeed in was making people like myself go over President Barack H. Obama's plan with a fine-toothed comb. And while reading Obama's health insurance plan, Rep. Wilson helped me agree with Obama's plan even more.

When I lost my job as an editor with a textbook publishing company a couple years ago, I wasn't so much worried about the company layoff. Although I learned a world of information and appreciate a few of my team members who were veteran copy editors, I knew the financial material wasn't something I could see myself making a career out of editing. So I'd been looking to get out of that company for some time. But what kept me going back was that I didn't want to lose my health care. It's uncomfortable and nerve-wracking to know that if something happens to you, you have no security to help you in a health-related situation. And I looked at the $300+ rates that COBRA wanted to charge after our department was laid off and wondered if my eyes were going bad.

I also recall a time when I renewed my car insurance but forgot to put a new ID card in my car. I should've never looked to see if it was new because for the rest of the day, I was the most nervous driver on the road. And I got home and scratched a parked car. Of course I paid for the damages and it didn't break the bank, but regardless, what if something worse had happened and I'd have had to pay the entire amount out of my own pocket? In all of my driving days, I've never been so careless, but just the thought of not having car insurance if the police pulled me over for whatever reason made me uncomfortable on the road.

These two examples give me first-hand proof of how troubling it is to not be able to find or afford suitable insurance. Whereas I was immediately hired for freelance opportunities and found a full-time job and didn't go without health care for long-and even without the ID card my car insurance was paid up-there are 46.3 million people without health insurance today, according to a Washington Post article posted on September 11. Everybody does not have the luck, funds, or credentials that I had to be able to find another job that would have reasonable health insurance.

I also see no reason whatsoever that health insurance companies should have the flexibility to turn people down for preexisting conditions. I had a '91 Plymouth Sundance a few years back with an engine that continuously died on me, but my car insurer didn't say, "Nope, we'll probably have to cover that car too much for repairs. You have to ride around with no car insurance." Actually my rates were lower because of the car's mileage on it.

But there is something that health insurance and car insurance have in common that I don't like. Car insurance premiums rose on my parents' insurance and my own during my teenage years and early 20s because statistics showed that that age group was more likely to get into a car accident or receive tickets. Health insurance companies also discriminate based on gender and age, but President Obama's health care plan eliminates this. How do you set someone up for failure by increasing their auto insurance rates-or not providing them altogether with today's health insurance plans-without giving them a chance to prove themselves?

Obama's plan also intends to do the following, according to WhiteHouse.gov: prevent insurance companies from dropping coverage when people are sick and need it most; caps out-of-pocket expenses so people don't go broke when they get sick; eliminates extra charges for preventive care like mammograms; protects Medicare for seniors and gives a 50 percent discount on prescription drugs for seniors on Medicare; provides new tax credits to help people buy insurance; and provides small businesses tax credits and affordable options for covering employees. This last one is especially important to me because sometimes small businesses or entrepreneurs get some of the most expensive rates because there are not enough employees to get reasonable rates, and I've met more than enough freelance writers and artists who just flat out won't get health care because they don't know that one person is eligible for small business rates in certain states. One of my favorite authors actually told me flat out that the only reason she got married to her longtime boyfriend was for health insurance since her publishing company wouldn't cover it. What kind of logic is that?

And while I am a little skeptical about Obama's plan to not "add a dime to the deficit and is paid off upfront" for these fees, that remains to be seen. But it could possibly happen because it will give private health insurance companies a fighting chance to compete with large health insurance companies like Blue Cross and Blue Shield and Aetna. I just hope that with the larger range to choose from, people don't fall into the same okey-doke jokes that auto insurance company Progressive does-claims to give people all the rates on competitive companies. I've been insured by them before, and I know they only tell you about companies with higher rates and one time would only lower my rates if I sent in proof that I graduated from college. That was a form of discrimination that really bugs me about insurance companies and one of the primary reasons why I support Obama's plan. Nobody should be able to choose your rates on health or auto insurance based on your education level because I've met high school dropouts who can drive just as well as I do and have better academic skills than I do in certain areas (specifically math). Judging someone based on their education level, gender, or preexisting conditions is simply wrong.

And while there are Conservative Democrats and Republicans who continuously try to provide distractions from his health insurance plan, I hope Obama is indeed the last president to introduce and try to execute government health insurance. There are 12 million people who were denied coverage because of high premiums for preexisting conditions, according to WhiteHouse.gov, and at the rate we're going and with 2.6 more Americans in debt, according to WashingtonPost.com, we've got to do something to help.