Obama Makes His Case In Op-Ed

Using anecdotes to underscore the argument, President Obama has an op-ed in Sunday’s New York Times explaining the need for health care reform.

Lori is currently self-employed and trying to start a business, but because she has hepatitis C, she cannot find an insurance company that will cover her. Another woman testified that an insurance company would not cover illnesses related to her internal organs because of an accident she had when she was 5 years old. A man lost his health coverage in the middle of chemotherapy because the insurance company discovered that he had gallstones, which he hadn’t known about when he applied for his policy. Because his treatment was delayed, he died.

The inaccurately named “death panels” already exist. They reside at insurance comanies where the profit motive often trumps good health care.  Obama makes four points on how health care improves with reform:

First, if you don’t have health insurance, you will have a choice of high-quality, affordable coverage for yourself and your family — coverage that will stay with you whether you move, change your job or lose your job.

Second, reform will finally bring skyrocketing health care costs under control, which will mean real savings for families, businesses and our government…

Third, by making Medicare more efficient, we’ll be able to ensure that more tax dollars go directly to caring for seniors instead of enriching insurance companies…

Lastly, reform will provide every American with some basic consumer protections that will finally hold insurance companies accountable.

You won’t be denied coverage because you’re sick or have a bad medical history; there won’t be caps on how much you can spend in a lifetime;  limits will be imposed on how much we’re charged for out-of-pocket expenses.  Insurance will have to cover preventative care.  And you are able to keep your current plan and doctors if you wish.

Are these truly objectionable goals?

By: Alan

Alan Colmes is the publisher of Liberaland.