I’m not a fan of big government, but I’m a living testimony that not all government is bad. Before I started using Medicaid, I was a substance abuser and suffered from bipolar disorder. Once I was diagnosed and received treatment, I began to take better care of myself by taking my medications and today I am no longer homeless.
The problem with government is that it helps the very rich and very poor, but penalizes people who want assistance over dependency. Medicaid put me on prescriptions that I can’t afford. Now I’m told I will have to prove that I’m poor to stay on my medication, or have to pay for the drugs that help me function in society.
I don’t want to sound like Ben Carson or other black conservatives who want to deny struggling people the same opportunities that contributed to their own success, such as food stamps and Medicaid. However, after leaving the D.C. Health Link office (D.C.’s new health insurance marketplace), I can understand why conservatives want to abolish the Affordable Care Act (ACA), commonly known as Obamacare.
Obamacare extends coverage to younger, healthier taxpayers to share in the expense so that people who are unhealthy do not have to pay higher prices than more healthy people.
Everyone who is sick should be able to get treated. However, does it make sense that in order to save a broken system, we need to break everyone else also? Thats pretty much what Obamacare does.
This is a consequence of lies and distortions from our politicians. The Baby Boomers are ready to retire and many cannot afford to pay their medical bills, so the federal government basically decided to take over the health care system and forcing the children of The Woodstock generation to buy health insurance through an “individual mandate” requiring everyone to either purchase health insurance or pay a tax penalty.
The beneficiaries of Obamacare are insurance companies that stand to make huge profits from the added number of insured people. The profits they make will offset any losses they incur by being forced to take on sicker people. Those who cannot afford health insurance will have the taxpayer pick up the bill for them because our elected lawmakers felt it unjust for people to take responsibility for their poor choices, such as smoking, lack of exercise, and poor diets.
There’s no denying that the health care system is broken and needs to be reformed; however, there are better ways to fix it. Rather than come up with a health care plan that involves high taxes and mediocre coverage, why not build a system that reflects American values such as hard work, personal responsibility, and shared sacrifice? A good model is the Veterans Administration, in which incentives are based on the common good rather than the motive of profit, is better.
An American plan could be paid for not by high-income earners who could put that capital to better use, but rather use incentives that are means-tested and that Americans support rather than loathe.
We need a humane health care system that’s more in line with Judeo-Christian principles: clean living, virtue, and morality, instead of a system that encourages people to live recklessly and then demands everyone share the burden of expensive healthcare costs.
