Healthcare 101

Healthcare is the single most important subject we should all be thinking about. NOW. 47 million Americans are without it. If my dear friend (see this post and this one, too) wasn't covered under his wife's plan, he would be dead by now. Do I have your attention?

You know, I never understood that between State and Federal taxes taking nearly 50% of our wages, somehow, we Americans have allowed our representatives to convince us that we don't all deserve healthcare. DO NOT be fooled by the argument that we can't allow the federal government to control our healthcare. For starters, there's Medicare (which everyone receives when they reach 65). Medicare is one of the most successfully run federal government programs of all time (and getting better with plenty of choice). For the rest of us, we can indeed have universal healthcare NOW and let the government pay for it (with the taxes we already pay). We will still have choice. We will still have our own doctors and specialists. But the bill is picked up by the federal government (at the risk of repeating myself: with the taxes we already pay.) Is that really too much to ask? So ask. No, demand. From your Representatives. From your Presidential candidate.

Once you've lost your health, well, nothing else much matters does it?