Obama gets his health care reform

I've long been surprised more Americans don't get heart attacks just by the sheer worry about being American. Not only are there crazies with guns just waiting to pop off innocent folk going about their business, but jobs are not safe, the ponzi merchants are still in place, and the national deficit comes out once in a while to scare them witless. And that's before they get round to thinking of healthcare.

I don't get it with the Republican Party. They seem to think it is perfectly OK for 10% or more of the US population to exist without adequate healthcare. Some have no healthcare, others have pre-existing conditions ruling out any effective get-well-factor. That makes insurance companies no better than scam artists. There are all kinds of cases, such as the woman denied breast cancer surgery because she had been treated for acne in the past, and a person whose policy was rescinded because his insurance agent had incorrectly entered his weight on the application form. Hospitals operate some pretty dodgy dealings as it is. If a person gets ill and say the hospital bill comes to $20,000 and the patient can't pay, the hospital takes on the role of canny bailliff. First the patient is given all sorts of verbal threats and then suddenly a soft guy role enters the scene. How about paying only $2,000 and we'll forget the courts and any jailtime. So the patient coughs up the cash, literally in some cases, and the whole sorry system moves on. I wonder how many hospital bills are paid by the ten-cents-on-the-dollar method?

Having spent time in America, been with Americans (of all shades of opinion I hasten to add) and discussed this, most have a world weary acceptance that Uncle Sam has given up his benevolent status to some vile alter ego. This new creation pops out to cause trouble all through life. So a shrugging of shoulders is often the response to questions about healthcare. The Republican Party has dined out for decades on frightening the American public on "socialised medicine" and "the nanny state of Europe". But these cheesy comments bely the fact that state hospitals do exist and that most people are not allowed to die as a result of accident or injury. Just don't get ill seems to be the message.

The Republicans may think it is the sign of a true conservative to let a sickly person struggle to their own feet by their own means. I think such an attitude just shows the sign of a petty-minded selfish person. Proper conservatism is wanting to distribute largesse when it has been properly earned so that those who are less able can be helped. The Good Samaritan was only able to help because he had the means to do so.

President Obama has done well on this matter. The Republican Party has unfortunately shown itself up as being rather spiteful and self-centered. Such behaviour gives conservatism a bad name.