Sick with Fear

I just came from a “conversation” about health care reform. It was actually one of the best discussions of the issue that I’ve ever heard. There were conservatives, moderates, and liberals, but everyone was respectful–everyone listened, everyone gave other people a chance to speak, everyone was polite. No one came to blows. I feel like I should be excited that people can actually sit down and speak intelligently about this thing. And yet I feel like I want to curl up in a ball and cry.

Just to get this out there, I am for health care reform. I support a national health care plan for people that covers those who cannot afford private insurance and that gives people another option. From a humanist perspective, I think that it’s the compassionate thing to do. People are suffering and need care, well, we should give it to them. From a patriotic perspective, I think we need better health care in America, because our availibity and quality of care lags far behind other developed nations. From an economical perspective, I think that we need health care reform now, because our economy is tanking. Yes, a national health care plan will involve costs, but it will also create a healthier work force. A healthier work force is a more productive workforce. A more productive workforce means a more productive economy.

Admittedly, I’m not as well-informed on this issue as I could be. And trust me, we could all be better informed on this issue. The bill is on line right now for anyone with access to the internet to read. (I have not read it yet.) In fact, I’m not going to give anyone an excuse to have not read it. You can read it right here: http://docs.house.gov/edlabor/AAHCA-BillText-071409.pdf. It is currently 1018 pages long. (This is why no one has read it. I’d be willing to bet that the representatives who are going to decide if it passes or not have not read it. This means that our leaders are about as informed on this issue as the general public is, and that’s just sad.) However, I have talked to someone else who has read it and let me clear up a few misconceptions:

1.) There are no death panels. No one is going to say that after a certain age, people must opt for euthanasia. (Arguably, some people might say that the insurance companies themselves are now acting as death panels, because they decide what kind of care is available to people and what they will pay for. If you need a surgery to save your life, but your insurance won’t cover it, some people could argue that your insurance company is acting as a “death panel.” Keep in mind also, I’m a liberal, I’m coming at this from a liberal bias, and I’m in a depressed mood right now, so my mental filter that keeps me closer to the center is not as active as it usually is. So if I sound a little pissy and a little down on private insurance companies, that’s why.)

2.) The national health insurance plan will not cover illegal immigrants. To recieved national health insurance, you will have to be a United States citizen. ‘Nuff said.

3.) No one will be forced to accept the national health care plan. If you’re happy with your private insurance and you want to keep it, you have that option. Also, there will be no government fines if you decide to keep that option.

4.) If we accept national health care, we are becoming socialist. First, I must ask: What is wrong with being socialist? Why is that such a bad thing? Why does the word “socialist” strike fear in the hearts of Americans? I honestly don’t know. I will say this: our economy already has elements of socialism in it and it has from day one. We are a mixed economy (meaning that our economy has elements of socialism and capitalism) and we have been for centuries. The idea of the government controlling aspects of our lives and our economy is nothing new. The military is socialized for God’s sake! Our education system is socialized. Our health care system already has elements of socialism in Medicare and Medicaid, which will still be in effecti, by the way, if the national health care is enforced. And let me reinstate, that public health care will be an option. No one is going to force people to accept it if they want to continue being covered by their private insurance.

So, why am I so depressed about this issue? I’m not sure. Partly I’m depressed because I can’t believe how ridiculous some people are being about it. The nation seems to be paralyzed with fear, though fear of what I’m not sure. Are we afraid of the government? Why? Are we afraid of the costs? We shouldn’t be. Like I said, the healthier the citizendry is, the more productive our economy is going to be. I don’t understand what people are afraid of. Death panels? Like I said, there are no death panels. Are we afraid of paying taxes? Guess what, we live in a society. Putting money into that society that helps society as a whole, and each individual is part of society. What I’m saying is that when you pay taxes, that money comes back to you in making this a better country to live in.

And yet we’re still afraid.  And that’s not a good place for a nation to be. Fear makes people panic. It keeps them from thinking clearly. It makes them clutch on to whatever they think will save them and make them safe again. And often, what we first clutch at is not the thing that will save us. I’ll be honesty, even I’m afraid. I’m afraid that this reform isn’t going to go through. I’m afraid that Obama is going to look like a failure and I’m afraid that people are going to lose faith in him. I’m afraid that, despite the change in regime and the Democratic majority in power, I’m going to continue living in a country run by the conservative right. (Like I said, my mental filter that usually keeps me from saying blatantly prejudiced things against Republicans and conservatives and other groups like that, but my mental filter just isn’t running today. If you are a conservative and are against health care reform, you’re welcome to put me in my place and leave me a comment.) I’m afraid of my own party failing on me. To be honest, I’m just as scared as everybody else.

And that’s not a good place for me to be either. Admittedly, maybe I should be positive. I just came from an environment that was diverse and yet welcoming and willing to talk about the issue rationally. Maybe I should have more faith in the American people. Maybe we’re not the headless chickens that the media makes us out to be. Maybe we are thinking about this issue in a calm and rational way, we just don’t realize that there are other people out there who are thinking in the same way that we are.

So what should we do? Well, we need to talk about the issue, I think. We need to talk about it with our peers. We need to talk about it with people who have private insurance. We need to talk about it to people who are on Medicaid. We need to talk about it to people who have no insurance. We need to see it from other people’s perspectives. We also need to learn about the issue from people who have a better knowledge of it than the average citizen. We need to listen and read. We need to be informed. We need to read newspapers. (Note: newspapers, not a newspaper. Reading more than one paper will give us a broader perspective on things. Admittedly, I don’t always do this. I tend to stick with the New York Times, which I know is not always a good thing.) We need to listen to politicians and decide which side makes the most sense to us. We need to read the bill for ourselves and find out what’s actually in it. We need to research what the health care situation in our country actually looks like now. We also need to ask ourselves, most importantly, I think, about why we feel the way that we do about the issue? What cultural myths and ideologies influence people’s thoughts on health care reform? What beliefs and values does our society have about this issue? Are these beliefs and values correct or do they need to be changed? Do these cultural myths and ideologies have a solid foundation? In other words, we need to think critically.

So I encourage everyone to go out and really examine the issue. I know that I should be doing this, and I’m encouraging other people to do so as well because I know that if I tell others to do it, I’ll force myself to do so too. Don’t believe something just because your pastor or your mother or your teacher or your best friend said it. Examine it. Look into it. And definitely don’t believe something just because I said it.