I feel like we're not nearly angry enough about this.
Over 60% of the country want some form of legitimate public healthcare. Unless the House gets their way, we won't get it.
These insurance companies don't give a shit about anyone's health, if they had their way, they'd continue denying people coverage for any and every reason. They just denied a baby because according to them he was obese which, according to them, is a pre-existing condition. When the media tore them apart, they covered the baby. But even then IT WAS A PR DECISION, NOT A HEALTHCARE DECISION! IT WAS STILL ABOUT PROTECTING PROFIT. Yes, if the proposed bill is signed, it will be illegal to deny people for pre-existing conditions, but that hardly changes the fact that many, many of our elected officials - and I'm talking about Democrats here, Republicans are a lost cause - are still letting this industry, these companies that would rather watch babies be sick than risk losing money, dictate healthcare policy via holding past and future campaign contributions over their heads. IT IS UNACCEPTABLE. So many of our elected officials are not making their decisions based on the wishes of their constituents, but based on what will guarantee that their next campaign will be financed. If this isn't the very definition of corrupt government, I don't know what is. Now, is this new? Of course not. That doesn't mean we shouldn't be furious about it.
If that isn't bad enough, the Democratic leaders - Obama, Pelosi, Reid, etc - also want to simply 'win' so bad that they're willing to 'win' with a watered down bill. They'd rather make the layup than miss the three.
And I'm sorry, BVS, but I just can't believe that incremental change is the answer. If/when the private healthcare industry is finally put out on its ass, it won't be incremental, it will be a sweeping, dramatic change.
Healthcare reform was supposed to be about giving us more choice. Because the spineless congress has catered to the health insurance industry's wishes, we could end up with a bill that has no public element of any kind, and that forces people who already have health insurance to keep it rather than switch to a better alternative if one becomes available. That sounds like the opposite of 'more choice' to be. The only thing of any significance this bill, if it is signed, will do for us is make it illegal for insurance companies to deny coverage because of pre-existing conditions and, frankly, I'm shocked the industry hasn't been screaming and bitching and crying about that to congress in recent weeks.
I just feel like this whole healthcare thing is highlighting and magnifying everything that's work with Washington.
We should be angrier.