Journal for Wednesday October 28: Public Option with Opt Out?

Phrases like "Public Option", and "Opt-Out", and "Single Payer", and "Government-Run Health-Care", and "Socialized Medicine", produce emotional reactions, yet I'll bet most  people don't really understand them.  Still, many are either fiercely in support or steadfastly opposed.. and vocally so!

One needs to read a LOT of different articles on this topic to create any semblance of a complete picture.

So it goes with the proposed Health Care Bill that includes a Public Option opt-out by state.

On its surface it makes no sense to me that we may allow states to prevent their residents from CHOOSING to participate in the government plan. 

Others report that the criteria for a state to opt out will be so prohibitive, that most states, if any, won't really be able to do so.  Other stories reveal that anyone who is already covered, by an employer for example, won't be able to participate in the government-run program anyway.

Some argue that those who oppose any kind of government plan should agree that police protection, fire protection, or road maintenance should, likewise, not be available to those who cannot afford to pay for them.  The flip side would counter that doctors and insurance companies are private businesses, not government services, which is why we all must pay for health care.

Apparently, insurance premiums will also pay the cost of the Public Option, not tax dollars.....

Those dreaded taxes.....

Is it any wonder there's confusion all around?

Still, I mistrust the motives of anyone backing a plan to allow a state ot "opt out" of a government health care option to allow uninsured residents to get coverage.  How can I support a law that is potentially exclusionary? 

What happened to the courage of one's convictions....  If something is right, how far should it be compromised to win votes and score political points?

Ah well, that's political reality.....don't like it, and fortunately I can still speak out against it.

Living in a state that prohibits me, for example, from chosing to marry my partner, I guess I'm sensitive to exclusionary laws of any kind, especially one as essential as health-care coverage.