On my lunch break today, I was reading an interesting article in the Morning Journal which had an article by Dick Morris in it. While he said a lot of things, Morris basically compared the Obama Administration’s attempt to take over healthcare as Orwellian in nature and very reminiscent of the book 1984. Is he terribly off base with that statement? Perhaps not. But I want to get away from this and talk about raw numbers when it comes to health coverage for a moment.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, there are 45.7 million people in America (not Americans, people in America) without health insurance as of their latest survey in 2008. Illegal immigrants account for 15% of that number (6.85 million people), so if you do not include those who should not be getting healthcare benefits anyway, then that brings the number down to 38.8 million Americans uninsured.
How many of those people are between the age of 18 and 23? Generally, for people of that age group, there is not necessarily a need for health insurance. According to the Government Accountability Office (GAO), in 2006 there was about 1.7 million college aged students without insurance. It has been three years, so I am going to add about 10% onto that number, so make it 1.87 million college aged students without health insurance. You can say that they may be “unable” to get health insurance, but can you honestly look at me and tell me that health coverage was one of your top five concerns back when you were 19 or 20? If you still say yes, then either you are a unique person or you are bullshitting me. If you can afford a $100 a month bill for your cell phone and buy cell phones frequently, then you can afford to get a basic healthcare plan at that age.
I believe that brings us down to 36.9 million people, roughly 12% of the population. We could go into the statistics of how many of these people are temporarily uninsured due to the result of job transitions, probably reducing this number even further, but I think you get my point.
So, about 88% either have a private plan via the employers/personal plans or choose not to be insured for their own reasons (i.e. college students). Is it any wonder people are pissed off about this public health plan?
Obama wants to dismantle a system that 88% of the population is currently apart of in favor of insuring 12% of the population. Why? Nothing says dictatorship of the minority more than this statement.
The Feds can do a lot without having to exercise full dominion over healthcare. If they want to go into a catastrophic coverage program for people in the United States, fine. But to create a bureaucracy of healthcare and mandating every employer pick up coverage they may not have been able to afford or pay an 8% tax on payroll? That is wrong, foolish, and asking for a world of trouble we have never seen before in the U.S.
If government wants to make it so insurance companies have to accept people with non-terminal preconditions, fine. If government has a catastrophic plan, terminally ill people can get insurance through the Feds. Anything non-terminal however would have to be accepted.
If government wants to make it so a person cannot legally have a drivers license without health coverage, FINE. You legally cannot drive a car without auto insurance after all, and people have gone to jail over it in the past.
The pool of people can be expanded without having to have a massive government intervention. The Senate, just recently, proposed a plan that would require health insurance for anyone who drives. The plan is expected to be cheaper than this behemoth of a bureaucracy being proposed by Congressional Democrats.
Pelosi, in contrast, will not settle for anything less than complete and total control with a public option. Some believe control is what is at the heart of this. There may be an element of truth in that, but personally I believe she is fuori di testa, or in other words, out of her damn mind.
I am hoping that cooler heads will prevail to not pass this nightmare of a health system. But hoping is not enough, and again, if you are angry, let your elected officials know! They are coming home soon, and you can bet your ass I will try to reach them when they do.
The Mang
Conservative Capo of Youngstown
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