Cristina Matasaru

These days there is no hotter topic than the new Health Care Reform Bill that just passed. It’s all over the news, websites, blogs, radio - everywhere! I mostly enjoy reading the blogs and than the comments that follow – and boy, do people have a lot to say on this one!

I am definitely no expert on this and I know that I’m just scratching the surface here, but from what I’ve read, these are my main concerns about the bill:

First of all, that you are FORCED to get health insurance – I for one will always want to have it, I think it’s good for everyone to have it, but I think it should be a matter of personal choice, not a condition mandated by law. “The land of the free”, right?

Secondly, I think there’s something wrong with a system where you can’t afford health care unless you have health insurance – paying out of pocket is very expensive even for the little things, most people would probably go banckrupt to have to pay for surgeries and more serious issues….

Thirdly, the cost of insurance is going to go up, new taxes will be imposed and they’re saying those two things alone won’t be enough to cover the estimated cost for this “reform”. So something will have to give… and it’ll most likely be the quality of the medical services. People will have a limited choice when it comes to health care, doctors will be the ones deciding what kind of treatment patients will receive, there will be long waiting lists for surgeries… and there won’t be anything anyone can do about it.

Lastly, I don’t agree with taking money from the rich to pay for the poor. I don’t have anything against either category, but this is very far from the idea of capitalism. While I understand that some people truly don’t have a choice (and I can really only understand that for a limited period of time), others are poor because they choose to – they get by on Welfare, food stamps and other things like that, paid for by working people anyway. Why would they even get a job when they can do just fine sitting on their couch all day long? The government should penalize that, not encourage it.

So these are just a few points that were brought up. One more thing though: this bill has 2,700 pages – who knows what else is in there that we don’t even know of? Sooner or later we will find out.

It’s a gloomy perspective… Reactions from people cover the whole spectrum: some people support it, saying that it’s a good thing and it won’t affect them at all. That to me sounds unrealistic. Others go as far as saying that they feel guilty for bringing children into this world, that America is headed towards socialism. Too much government interference will do that, I think.

Several states are sueing the federal government over the constitutionality of the bill.

And then there’ this: www.FireNancyPelosi.com . In 37 hours, people have donated $981,000 for this cause!

Let’s just say that it will be interesting to watch what happens next.