NOT THAT YOU ASKED OR ANYTHING, BUT HERES WHAT I THINK: When I was growing up, a common term used often to refer to many Senior Citizens was shut-ins. They were called that because they almost never left home. Their health was often compromised or fragile, and many could not obtain health insurance because of their age - so they avoided going out, something that would put them at risk of picking up a virus or other disease. Medicare changed all that. Seniors live longer, more active lives today. The term shut-in has all but disappeared from the vernacular. Advances in medical care and science have been a big part of that change, to be sure, but if you cant access any of those advances, because you dont have health insurance and, thus, cant afford health insurance, they mean little to you. Access to affordable health insurance - Medicare - is what made the big difference. We are similarly living through a sea change in the lives of people with chronic illnesses, pre-existing conditions, and incomes that, in the past, made it impossible for them to obtain health insurance coverage. The Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) will help them obtain the medical care they need. Predictably, the Republican oppose it, as they did Medicare. It should surprise no one that Republicans continue to denounce it. They called Medicare socialized medicine. They said it meant Grandma was going to receive her medical care from government doctors. They fought it for years, and have never, really stopped trying to cut back funding for it, or its counterpart Medicaid, which helps the poor access some health insurance. If Republicans want to continue to promise to repeal the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare), they do it at their own peril, in my view. I predict it will soon become the new third rail of public policy. Not everybody needs the Affordable Care Act to access affordable health insurance and thereby health care. But everybody knows somebody who does. Nobody knows when they may find themselves in a situation where - in the past - obtaining health insurance would have been impossible: you develop a serious illness, lose your job, and then your insurance. With your new pre-existing condition, no insurance company at your next job, or on your own, would have had anything to do with you. Youd be without health insurance when you needed it most. Our health today does not come with a guarantee for tomorrow. If you still dont have health insurance, please take advantage of this current, new enrollment period which began Saturday. It could very well save your life. Thats what I think. Not that you asked or anything.
Posted on: Sun, 16 Nov 2014 20:33:09 +0000
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