rabble rabble

healthcare reform is a booger. no doubt. i'll say this about our president- i think he is doing too much too fast- the healthcare system didn't get tangled up and diluted overnight, it won't be corrected overnight. at least he's trying to do something about it, unlike certain over-publizied republicans that keep saying "we need to wait, and think this through"
what have they been doing for the past 15 years? the time to start working towards recovery is now.
one sticking point, is how many people oppose reform, and their arguments. many people cite the new plan will 'ration' healthcare- well folks, that already happens. insurance companies already tell you what you can and cannot have. they make the decisions for you, whether you like it or not. let's say you have advance rheumatoid arthritis, and your medical provider believes you need to start treatment immediately and prescribes Enbrel. you submit your rx, and your insurance company says, "nope- sorry- enbrel is too expensive. you need to start with methotrexate (about 2 cents a pill) and work up from there." which you do. you have no choice. paying out of pocket for enbrel will cost you at least a couple grand a month. so you have to suffer for months, taking medications that fail, until the insurance company feels you've gone through the proper tiers. not an exteme example, but one readily available.
opponents also argue against 'end of life' care, which dictates those over the age of 65 may be denied life saving procedures (due to cost of course), and will instead be given a steady supply of prescriptions for management until they die.
again, something that has been taking place for a long time now. many people over the age of 65 are told by their PCP they may not survive the procedure because they're so old, brittle, etc, and often reccommend prescriptions to deal with the symptoms of whatever ailment they posess.
there are so many who also like to cite statistics of how many people needed treatment in (socialist) canada, and were so far down on the waiting list they either died or came to the united states for care.ahem. do we need to bring up how many American citizens go to pakistan for kidney transplants or taiwan for cancer treatment? how about the 9/11 volunteers who were promised health care assistance for chronic illness they developed over the course of helping search for survivors. they never received the money they were promised and had to go to Cuba (socialists), where they finally received the care they needed and deserved.
i think all americans deserve the right to basic healthcare rights. cause our country is so great, right? we've lost our focus on taking care of each other, and shifted to who can make the biggest profit- regardless of the expense on human life.