Why I Support Health Insurance Reform, Including the Public Option

I strongly believe that if the people of the United States really understood everything that's wrong with our health care system as it works now and how health insurance reform would help to fix what's wrong with it that support for health insurance reform would be absolutely overwhelming.

I believe that those (insurance companies & the politicians those insurance companies own) who stand to lose with reform know that. That's why they do everything they can to keep us from having a rational debate. Instead they spread misinformation to confuse and scare people so that they will actually go out there and fight against the reform that would help themselves and their families.

I hope to do my part to get dispel the myths about health reform and to help my readers understand the very good reasons to support health insurance reform and also (just as importantly) what they can do to help get substantive health reform passed (including the public option.)

Why I Support Reform

1. Over 10,000 US citizens die due to lack of health care coverage every year. When I hear people say "why are we rushing?" I get sick to my stomach. We are letting many people die each and every day with our current system. It is absolutely unacceptable for a nation of our wealth to let so many of our fellow citizens die simply because they are not rich.

2. Nearly one million US citizens go bankrupt due to medical expenses every year and the majority of those people had private health insurance. This is the main reason the US has a much higher bankruptcy rate in comparison to every other western country (which of course all have universal health care.)

3. The private health insurance industry regularly scams it's customers in order to make bigger profits. As the above reason should tip you off, private insurance companies often do not provide the coverage their customers need when they get seriously sick or injured. It is not at all unusual for a person to have their coverage cut (usually due to some fine print in their contract) when they get seriously sick or injured. And if the insurance company can't find a reason to cut them, they'll do the next best (worst) thing, they'll raise their premiums to the point they can't afford to keep their insurance anyway. Health insurance reform would put these practices to an end.

4. Sick people and pregnant women are discriminated against by the private health insurance industry. "Pre-existing conditions" allow insurance companies to deny coverage to those who need it most. And yes, they consider pregnancy a "pre-existing condition."

5. If our health care system is left as is, it will bankrupt our country. Right now the US spends more person on health care than any other nation in the world (despite health care results which rank well below those of other countries.) And that cost is only going up. Premiums are skyrocketing. The "public option" for health insurance should help keep costs under control by giving private insurance companies some real competition and the American people a real choice.

6. A sense of security. Every American should feel like if they get sick, they will be taken care of. It's a basic human human right in a civilized society.

7. Doctors overwhelmingly support reform. Don't you trust doctors over insurance companies that are just trying to make more money and right wing politicians who are just trying to score a political victory? And remember, those right wing politicians are the same ones that lied us into the Iraq War. Why should you trust them now?

What Can You Do To Support Health Insurance Reform?

I recommend contacting your Congressman and your Senators and letting them know that you not only want them to support health care reform but that you want to make sure that a "public option" is included because you do not trust the health insurance companies to do what's right without substantial pressure to do so.

You should also consider writing a "letter to the editor" to your local newspaper. Make sure you research the issue before you do write such a letter so that you can make your case well. This list of seven things you can do will definitely get you started. If you do those seven things, I believe you will be doing your part. If you want to do even more, great! Your children and your grandchildren will one day thank you. This is the civil rights issue of our time. Sick people deserve to be taken care of, regardless of how much money they have.