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OPINION

Need for health reform gets to be very personal

Letter
Comments (15)

Monday, November 16, 2009

(Updated 3:00 am)

Everyone has his own view of health care reform. I have mine.

I have loved ones and people I know who for various reasons of hardship and expense can’t afford and don’t have health care insurance. I have watched as they struggle with, for example, having to file bankruptcy because they had a heart attack. I have watched as they are treated differently in emergency rooms of hospitals because they have no health insurance. They stay in pain more, and because they can’t afford it, don’t treat illnesses at all, which usually leads to them just getting worse. I don’t have enough money to make them well and don’t want to watch them suffer anymore. If we can help others in other countries not suffer, we can surely pass health care reform here and end this lack of compassion.

I’m watching the people who represent us and watching closely how they vote. I’m looking to see if they care or not.

A.M. Zimmerman
Greensboro

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Voice of Reason

November 16, 2009 - 5:39 am EST

We all have our reasons for our position on the health care vote, and they may have nothing to do with whether or not we are compassionate for less fortunate individuals. Some people believe, probably rightly so, that the reform will severely bankrupt America. Some believe that industry reforms will do the trick and that this bill is overkill. Part of the reason gov't health care works better in Europe is that people are far healthier there. In this country, there are millions of Americans who take little or no care of themselves. Providing health care for the masses here will cost far more here than elsewhere due to our unhealthy lifestyles. Some folks think they work hard for their money, and spend and save it wisely, and therefore should not have their money taken from them and given to people who, many of them, will never work a day in their lives. And some folks, like me for example, believe all the above are correct. I'm a nice guy, understanding, to a degree. But I don't feel that I'm a bad person for thinking that this is a bad bill, a bad idea, and a bad mistake. And I'm sure I'm not alone. We all have reasons for our opinions, our ideologies. If you feel that people who oppose the health care reform bill are heartless, that's your opinion, but it won't be mine, and I won't feel bad about speaking out against it.

J D R

November 16, 2009 - 6:02 am EST

That comes close to summing my thoughts too .. thanks Voice Man.

huck

November 16, 2009 - 6:39 am EST

Great response, Voice. My opposition is not due to "lack of compassion", but instead due to the multiple reasons you cited.

Sawdust

November 16, 2009 - 8:33 am EST

And yet another "Amen".

swerdna

November 16, 2009 - 8:53 am EST

Ditto everything you've said.

As I've said before, I'll be more supportive when Congress has a plan that REQUIRES all government officials (Congress and the POTUS included) and their families to be covered with NO supplemental insurance permitted (like most of us). What's good for us should be good enough for them. Until then, I don't want those who think it's only right for a woman to make a decision on abortion but think it's NOT right to allow me to make the decision as to my personal health care running the show.

Furthermore, I want to see hard, fast facts as to how a program will be financed and run. There are "ideas" but I've not seen any exact numbers. What I HAVE seen is how Medicare has been abused and money mismanaged. If government can't run Medicare, how in the world can they run something as massive as a national health care program?

I work hard for my money, and to be honest, we're struggling to make ends meet most months. I'm also a nice person, I'm compassionate, and I help others often when it means I will have to tighten my belt just a little more. Why can't people understand that many of us just don't want to see our money wasted and spent on a program where there's no set plan in place, no facts given, and no assurance that our dollars will be spent for health care and not a slew of government-paid employees?

If some people think this thinking is political BS, then so be it. It's not political, it's not racial, it's not anything except a demand for some RESPONSIBLE decisions by people who have been elected to represent US rather than blindly believing the mantra generated by the party to which they belong.

Beachwalk

November 16, 2009 - 3:13 pm EST

Voice, I agree with everything you said.
You truly are a voice of reason.

pragmatist

November 16, 2009 - 5:44 pm EST

I hope an uninsured person never sneezes on you.

danagain

November 16, 2009 - 8:02 pm EST

Excellent post VOR, thank you, just try some paragraphs next time.

nclife57

November 16, 2009 - 6:52 am EST

Voice summed it very well. I will continue to speak out against this healthcare reform. We need reform but not this kind of reform.

ghost from white oak

November 16, 2009 - 8:08 am EST

Ditto, Voice of Reason!

swerdna

November 16, 2009 - 8:53 am EST

Ditto here too.

rwrn

November 16, 2009 - 11:16 am EST

Ditto Voice and Swerdna. Ain't it funny that over 50% of America is against said reform but the pro reform letters get printed more often. Thanks for the bias N&R.

Voice of Reason

November 16, 2009 - 12:25 pm EST

I wondered about that too. They must not get as much letters as they used to.

truth

November 16, 2009 - 3:08 pm EST

"I don’t have enough money to make them well...."

So, stealing mine is okay then? Thanks.

J D R

November 16, 2009 - 5:04 pm EST

What drives me nuts is the hyper crap over this and the relative quietness over the exact same boondoggle that happened in 2003 ... and no I'm not talking about Iraq but Med Part "D". Here we are starting a second war (with scant evidence but that's another thread) .. and we start with very little discussion and a lot of back door dealing on a $750 Billion over 10 year G-Man giveaway.

OK Ok - you'll say "I was against that too" ... well maybe .. but here's what Rush was saying about the current $750 Billion over 10 year G-Man giveaway:

"AMERICA HAS NEVER BEEN UNDER ATTACK LIKE THIS .. AMERICA FACES THE LOSS OF GREATNESS".

I can quote 'cause I took notes.

If Limpballs didn't say the exact same thing in the Fall of 2003 .. then he is a partisan jerk .. wait we already knew that.