I was tossed from jury duty once when the prosecutor questioned me on the stand during jury selection. I knew he had asked the kinds of questions that branded me as one. But the truth is, I didn't want to be on that jury anyway. I had already made up my mind that the defendant shouldn't walk, so they were right to send me packing.
But this bleeding heart liberal is heartened by the passage of the health care reform bill, even if it is so much less than I had hoped for. I was pushing for the public option, which is what all of us on Medicare have, as well as what all those Congresspeople have. Every other developed country in the world has a system to take care of its citizens, and soon (in four years, that is) we will have it too.
As of today, however, insurance companies can no longer refuse to cover children because they have a pre-existing condition or raise the insurance rates so high that the parents can't pay. We have to wait until 2014 for this to take effect for the parents, however. The bill is not perfect, by any means. You can read here what ten immediate effects will take place when President Obama signs the bill into law.
Yesterday was World Water Day, too. I think I'll write a post about bottled water tomorrow, since it's quite an important issue. Today, though, I wanted to say thank you to all those who fought so hard to get the health care reform bill passed.
:-)
Yayy for our American neighbours! Finally...a step in the right direction!
ReplyDeleteYou're right; it doesn't do enough. But it is an definite improvement over the past, and a huge step in the right direction!
ReplyDeleteI'm just afraid you folks will get stuck with something that is not good enough, and it will be even more difficult to get a health care system that you really need. But this is definitely a step in the right direction.
ReplyDeleteIn Canada, there is no such thing as a pre-existing condition -- for anyone. I think the insurance companies still have too strong a foothold. I will keep my fingers crossed.
And yes, I'm a bleeding heart liberal too. :-)
It is a step in the right direction.
ReplyDeleteYou know...I'm not sure how I feel about this yet. I was hoping for a real change in the big business of health insurance. It seems to definitely be a step in the right direction though. But I'm taking a wait and see approach for now.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you've posted this. Having just spent a few weeks in Florida and listening to talk radio a lot, we really don't know what to think, but yours and Eva's opinions matter to me and I'm glad you both think it's a step in the right direction. Sometimes, Dick and I get frustrated when our friends have to 'wait' to get an MRI or XRay, but at least we get it and we don't have to give up our houses! I wonder if your doctors and nurses will continue to make so much more than ours? Maybe some of ours will come back home? We shall have to wait and see! Thanks again!
ReplyDeleteDJ, Even though we are not always in agreement with political views, I certainly respect and like hearing your opinions. You are one of my very favorite bloggers and I know we'd be good friends if we lived close enough to visit in person. Political views don't determine who my friends are. I can only hope that this health care reform bill works out for everyone. If it proves to be a bad thing then I'm sure it will get fixed somewhere down the road. I definitely feel reform was needed and we can only wait and see if this was the answer.
ReplyDeleteAmen to that. The sooner the better. I am so proud of our healthcare system over here in England. I have never had any cause to complain about it and it has seen my family through all sorts of trials and tribulations. It cannot come soon enough for all you people over there and I think the Republicans may have a shock coming when the elections come up!
ReplyDeleteBlessings, Star
Step by step!
ReplyDeletePerhaps once people realise this kind of measures aren't throwing the US into "the arms of rampaging socialism" and understand how vital it is for everyone to have such a basic right... then they'll accept a more complete and universal measure.
but for now I'm smiling! :D
I'm with you. Can't believe how many people are so upset that some poor soul might be able to see a doctor on our tax money. Where were these people when they put all the marble in DC?
ReplyDeleteI am very torn on the passage of the healthcare bill...I am thrilled also about the no refusal for a pre-existing condition and for coverage of children to age 26...but I am very concerned on how this will be paid for.....
ReplyDeleteI have much blog-catching up to do, but real quick, from one bleeding-heart liberal to another, it was a good day when this legislation passed. I hope they'll tweak it over time to add a public option, but getting coverage for all of us with pre-existing conditions is the best start they could have made. :) hurray!
ReplyDeleteI, too, am torn. I can see both sides of the debate and have yet to decide where my views fit. I am concerned about the plan to pay for this. It seems the government too often takes a page from Scarlet O'Hara's book...Unfortunately the bill will come due, and putting it off until tomorrow won't work forever.
ReplyDeleteIt's a first step. We have far to go and lots to fix. But we will.
ReplyDeleteI'm taking my example from our President: remain calm, stay informed, persist!
I am soooo happy that this got passed, but I am soooo disappointed that it is a present for the insurance companies. I, too, wanted a public option that would give those thieving bastards a run for their money. The only good thing is they have to use 85% of the money for actual health care. That's a step in the right direction, but how in the world will they monitor it? I hope everyone that has been protesting finds out just how good this is. Maybe we should tell them they can't have any of the changes because they didn't want them and see how they like that.
ReplyDeleteIt seems that it will be a long wait for anyone with a pre existing conditions..heavens this could stay in the courts for years.. 2014 is four years away..by then the people and children with conditions will still be waiting? Some will be dead. It seems to me that this is all a murky bunch of gobbly gook. We still are not plugging the hole in the bucket, which in my opinion is Malpractice Insurance and Big Insurance Company and CEO's with huge bonus checks. And while they are at it..they could have frozen all costs of Medical Procedures. Why are Illegal Aliens getting more free health care than regular Americans? Something is wrong with this picture:(
ReplyDeleteAnd I'd be in that same picture if I lived in the great northwest. As a bleeding heart and a real liberal, I believe it is important to keep in mind that our president is not. Obama is a left-leaning centrist and will not fight for a really progressive agenda unless pushed by those of us on the left. I look around the political landscape and wonder whatever happened to a belief in democracy. So few people seem to remember what that looks like. We the people are mostly looking like pawns of the corporate propaganda.
ReplyDeleteAh - I must remind myself - all of it is temporary...and forever temporary...