So the past few weeks, there’s been a huge uproar about “obamacare” or what the rest of us call health care reform. If you’ve ever gone without insurance, or had insurance and couldn’t get them to pay for a procedure you needed, then you realize that something has to be done to rectify this situation.

We claim to be the best nation on earth, yet we have the worst access for health care in all the industrialized nations. We have the highest infant mortality rate, lower life expectancy and it’s all pretty sad when we pound our chests and say we have the “best” health care in the world.

Now, don’t misunderstand. I’m not out to bash the health care professionals here. That isn’t what this blog is about. It’s about the blood sucking insurance companies that have driven up costs, denied sick people care and lowered the standard of care people with insurance receive. Take for instance giving birth. When my mother had me, she stayed in the hospital for a week. Got extra care, advice on taking care of me, you name it. When I had my son, I popped him out at noon and was checked out the next day.  He almost died when I was giving birth to him as he was compressing his cord. Yet they couldn’t wait to kick me out the door… and I had insurance.

Imagine working a job, having health care and then getting diagnosed with diabetes or high blood pressure. Then your company down sizes and you get laid off. Ya know what is going to happen to you when you find a new job? You’re going to be denied insurance coverage because of “pre-existing conditions”. Congratulations. You just became one of the 50 million+ americans that are now without any coverage and it’s not going away unless someone as big and powerful as the government makes it happen.

I’ve been listening to all these people carry on about how they don’t want to pay more taxes, that we should all make our own way in the world and quit looking for a hand out. Is access to safe, affordable health care really a hand out? I didn’t realize it was.

I hear people screaming that it’s socialism, but these same people are on medicare or social security. Drive on a street paved by the state that receives money from the gov’t to pay for it. Have kids or grand kids that go to public schools. Drink clean water. Ride a bus, subway or even a plane. I bet you didn’t realize those things were subsidized by the gov’t too. Maybe they got a grant or a low interest rate on a student loan. Got a housing loan through FHA or the VA because they proudly served our country. Put money in a bank account that is federally insured or any number of things that we take totally for granted when we go through our every day lives.

The government does so much for us that we take for granted. Things that improve our lives and make them better. Why would them forcing insurance companies to quit raping consumers be so bad? Oh that’s right. It’s not. It’s just that all the right wingers want to see this president fail so badly, that they make up outright lies about the health care bills currently being discussed in washington.

Did you know sarah palin was complaining about how she didn’t want to have to go before a death panel to see if she would be entitled to a hip replacement or open heart surgery when she’s older? Well.. unless she’s planning on starting her own death panel, the current bills don’t contain anything of the sort. No one’s going to die because the gov’t won’t pay for a medical procedure. That’s what insurance companies do.

Insurance companies are spending $1.4 million dollars a DAY on lobbiests to go to washington and try to defeat this bill. I wonder. How many americans could get health insurance for that amount of money? I would have to think after you add all that money up, it’ll be quite a lot of them.

So honestly, when you sit down at night to watch the tv and drink your tasty beverage of choice, don’t believe the talking heads on tv telling you gov’t health care would be a horrible, socialist program that turns us into russia. American citizens already enjoy many programs that are ’socialist’ and no one is in the streets screaming about them.

If we can’t all have health care and it’s only for the rich, then this isn’t the country I thought it was when I was growing up. It’s become about greed instead of doing the right thing.. and it’s a shame.