Broadside Opinion

Emma Nay, Communication

I am letting you know ahead of time that I am a Libertarian, which is pretty much in the middle of the political spectrum. Honestly, I’m not so sure how I feel about health care reform.

In “Healthcare Reform: Is Change Really Worth Losing a Finger?”, the author states, “You begin to think how something so simple as health care could cause so many people to become so enraged.”

My question is, how is health care simple? Healthcare can easily make someone angry. If it is going to affect me and my family, yes, health care reform can be extremely scary.

The author also states how people put up a red flag to anything that relates to socialism.

In America, do you know how long it takes for a person to get an MRI? Somewhere between a couple of hours and a couple of days depending on how many appointments there are at the office.

In Canada, a country with socialized healthcare, the average person can get an MRI in up to three months. If they’re extremely lucky, they can get an MRI in a couple of weeks.

“If you take a look at medicine in European countries you really can see a change in how patients are cared for by physicians and trained professionals.”

In socialist nations, it is hard for doctors to care for so many people with less in return.

There aren’t enough doctors for them to care for everyone, therefore, the care patients receive is generally less than what Americans receive now.

The author also argues that an innocent child should never be left sick with an illness. Yes, I agree with you.

I believe every child deserves a chance, which is why I donate to St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital. They care for any, and I mean any child that is ill, insurance or not, and it is not likely for an insurance company to turn down a child that is extremely ill any way.

In the article, the author asks, “What’s the problem with simply trying something new?” Again, it’s not like we’re simply trying something to eat for the first time. We’re trying universal healthcare, not exactly the easiest thing to change over to.

Well, I got this idea from someone a few days ago: How about we try this socialized healthcare in one of our states for a couple of years?

If it works, then that’s great! Let’s go ahead and change everything. If it doesn’t work, let’s either go back to the way things were or try something else new.

I am a humanitarian. I believe those who are extremely ill should get the care that they deserve, insurance or not, and citizen or not (even though I strongly oppose illegal immigration, it’s not that I do not care for them as people).

If you are about to lose an arm or a leg (or maybe even a finger), go right ahead. Get help. I don’t mind.

I only really worry about the fact that 47 million people will be added to health care if this bill gets passed.

There is a huge demand for nurses and doctors right now and I believe that there aren’t enough health care professionals to help 47 million more. Plus, we do not have the money.

I would love to give everyone health care and proper treatment, only if we had the dollars and doctors. Unfortunately, that is a utopian society and it doesn’t really exist (at least not for now). We are trillions of dollars in debt and this utopian society that we are striving for is nearly impossible to reach. It’ll put us further into debt.

I am not a greedy person. I’ve donated countless hours of my time and money for those who are in need. Every person deserves a chance. Unfortunately, my father, a conservative, lost his job for the fourth time within a year a few weeks ago and we are currently experiencing health care issues ourselves.

Personally, I do believe there should be some changes made to the health care we have now, but I do not necessarily agree with the healthcare bill that President Barack Obama is proposing. We didn’t have insurance for half a year last year and we’re going to have to experience that battle again. My father can hardly pay for his heart medication, let alone his own food these days.

I ended up paying for his food for months until he got a stable job again. Keep in mind, my father went bankrupt in 2008 and it’ll take years for us to recover, even if he does get a stable job again.

The sad thing is, we are not alone. Millions of families are in the same position as us. I hope you understand where I am coming from.