As people sit tight waiting for the Supreme Court ruling on the Affordable Care Act, I simply do not understand why some people are so against this. Is there anything good about being denied healthcare because of pre-existing conditions? Why would anyone want to oppose a law that says insurance companies cannot do this anymore? (just one part of the law)
Close your eyes and imagine the person you love the most in the world, being denied coverage because of something so simple as asthma, or eczema, or even something as serious as cancer… no one should be denied a chance to receive life-saving treatment. This is about people’s livelihood, dignity, quality of life and survival… could you put a price on the health of your loved one? Are politicians going to pay your medical bills when you have to pay out of pocket?
People don’t want the government telling them that they MUST buy health insurance. I get that people do not like being told what to do. (Starts young… when you didn’t want to brush your teeth just because your mom said so!) I guess it is part of human nature, not to want to listen to rules; but think about what would happen if the government didn’t regulate certain things. Let’s take something as simple as garbage collection: if the city didn’t tell you on what days to put out your garbage, you could put it out on any day of the week, then what would happen? You would have piles of bags of garbage lining your street, welcoming stray cats, rats and diseases. So, isn’t it better that it is regulated, rules in place?
People are required by law to have insurance on their cars and homes (not sure if this is the case in all 50 states, but it is the case in NY) so, why should a person’s health be any different? Are we saying that cars and homes are worth more than people? When thinking of buying car or home insurance, do you think “OH maybe I just don’t need it? Nothing will happen.” Well reality check—Accidents happen, cars get totaled, and home get wrecked by natural disasters, or other accidents, and insurance is there to cover. It would be much more expensive to pay for the cost of repairs out of pocket than to pay for auto/home insurance beforehand. If we have understood this about cars and homes, why is it so difficult to understand that HUMANS need insurance? Why would I want to wait until something awful has happened to me to get insurance? (It’s all about economics… I can take care of my teeth with a simple cleaning twice a year, which is minimal in cost, or I can let my teeth rot – if I don’t have insurance, and then have to pay thousands of dollars in teeth repair… or lose my teeth—option 1 seems much better than option 2 or 3.)
Some people say they don’t want government to regulate this, that the framers of the Constitution did not intend for the government to regulate this. This is too much government intervention. Yadda yadda yadda. Well, if we were really going by what the Framers intended, African-Americans in the South would still be slaves, and women wouldn’t have the right to vote. This is not the late 18th century, times change, so therefore our government must change as well.
This is so simple; I think people are trying to find a way to make it complicated. What is worse—politicians are making it political and partisan. How disheartening. I certainly hope that the Supreme Court justices will see past partisanship and see that the Affordable Care Act is a good thing for our country.
