Thursday, June 21, 2012

Waiting for the Supreme Court

We will soon be hearing what the Supreme Court has to say about the Affordable Care Act.  Does it matter as much as everyone thinks?  I have to say that I'm so tired of hearing both sides talk about the Act as if it's either the solution to the health care crisis or the end of civilization as we know it.  It's neither!  And the worst part of all of this is that we're all spending our time fighting, rather than finding solutions.  How can we have life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness without adequate health care?  I just moved from Colorado to California and I will have to reapply for health insurance (with the same insurance company, no less!).  Of course, I have to buy automobile insurance, but that isn't an infringement on my personal liberty (I know, it's a state requirement, not a federal one.  State governments can tell me to buy broccoli, but the feds can't)?  There are a bunch of items in the Affordable Care Act that are truly a waste of everyone's time and money, but because an intern in a Senator's office was interested in it, it got put in the bill.  The Republicans came up with many of the core elements of the Act, but now that the democrats support it, they're against it.  Most people that are against the Act can't even tell you what's in it or what it does.  There is no rationing of health care in the act.  There are no death panels.  At the same time, there is really no part of the Act that effectively puts free market forces back into healthcare.  The health care market is presently a free market for insurance companies to make as much money as they want.  It's also set up for specialists and medical device makers and pharmaceutical companies to spend our hard earned dollars on treatments that have not been shown to be beneficial.  We are in the 21st century of snake oil and don't even know it.  So, what are we really waiting for?  The entire legal battle over the Affordable Care Act has been nothing more than another way to kick the health care can down the road.  Neither party is truly interested in solving this problem.  They're only interested in getting reelected. Maybe it's time to throw them all out!

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