Health Care

I'm going to try really hard to stay positive while addressing this extremely controversial issue. Anyone who has ever done battle with an insurance company trying to get the benefit you've paid for (especially after paying premiums for years) should be sympathetic to the need for reform. People without coverage REALLY want reform. 60% of all bankruptcies in the U.S. are now caused by inability to pay medical costs. For those without insurance, one major medical crisis can wipe you out. A single operation can cost 100K!
This all began many years ago with corporate medicine, then malpractice lawsuits, but our terrible lifestyle choices are also right there in the top three causes for the crisis.
Obesity and smoking are the top contributors to health problems. Defensive medical practice -- ordering every possible test to CYA for docs -- and bureaucratic insurance paperwork are other factors contributing to a $1.2 Trillion dollar health care waste in the U.S. Yes, that's just the cost of waste. We spend over $3 Trillion annually now on health care.

How can we NOT need reform?

So, let's be honest. The trumped up protests at the health care hearings and town halls are not really not about reform. It's about money and providing free or subsidized care for immigrants (my polite term for "illegal aliens" or bluntly, Mexicans.) I doubt Repubs and racists are all worked up over Canadians crossing the border or an influx of Norwegians. Those people have their own health care. No, it's Mexicans and Asians the rabble-rousers don't want to care for. The tactic is to scare senior citizens -- since they vote. It's tragic, really.
Why can't we at least be honest about the issues? And to those half-wits who are yelling, "I want my country back." My reponse is "suck it up." I wanted MY country back for eight long painful years. It's our turn to attempt to restore some sanity, so just shut up and sit down! (Sigh, just couldn't stay Mindful. I'll never see myself as One with the racists who call Obama a Nazi or scare old people.)