Health Care Reform Bill: Ryan John

To say you’re in favor of denying a heath care reform bill that provides coverage to the 30 million uninsured citizens of this country, on the surface seems cruel and merciless.   A while ago, around the time of Michael Moore’s documentary Sicko was out, I recall hearing the argument that as the wealthiest, most prosperous country in the world, it’s incomprehensible for us not to guarantee proper, affordable medical treatment for all our citizens…Like it was a moral, unalienable right or something.  I never agreed with that.  I believed that we were the richest country in the world because we didn’t guarantee anything but life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.  That pursuit was up to the individual.  If we socialized health insurance, it would decrease one’s motivation to find a job that may provide them with a solid group insurance plan.
 
However, I view America slightly different now.  In 2010, there will be many people who want to work and make an honest wage, but won’t be able to do so.  Should these otherwise good, hardworking people go without insurance because they lost their jobs and coverage because of mistakes unbeknownst to them that were made by their bosses and/or government?  I don’t think so.  In a free market capitalist society two types of people anger me about the same. Those who mooch off of others people success through handouts and entitlements like unemployment and welfare benefits.  And those who mooch off of other people vulnerability or naivety like crooked lenders and sales people.  Both are serious detriments to a capitalistic system. 
 
If we’re going to share the cost of socialized medicine I think for starters we need to tax the products or services that make us unhealthy in the first place like cigarettes or fattening food and drinks, while at the same time provide incentives for those who remain healthy through proper diet and exercise. I hope to see the good of this bill, such as decreased medical costs over the long run and less bankruptcy because of medical bills, but, as with most government involvement, I fear a lazier, more reliant American mentality could develop in the process.