Support healthcare for all

     Last week, as I sat in my living room watching President Obama speak to the joint houses of Congress, I had a thought. Well, I had many thoughts, most having to do with how frustrated I am with too many people who seem to have the wrong impression of the President's Healthcare plan. However, it wasn't so much the details of the plan that got me thinking, but more of what the President said in regards to those whom the plan would most greatly help.

     While we're in school, most of us college students are still covered by our parent's insurance. However, depending on our parents' policies, we no longer fall under their coverage when we graduate. Since most of us won't have a perfect job lined up at the time of commencement, we'll be at a loss for health coverage. I don't know about you, but that really frightens me.

     What scares me even more though are the people who tell me that it doesn't matter if I don't have insurance. I heard one of my friend's parents even say that if someone was seriously ill and didn't have insurance they "could just go to the emergency room. They have to care for you there." 

     Yes, by law, an ER must treat the patients that come in, however, there is still the matter of payment that needs to be discussed. If I can't afford the treatment they've given me, where do I turn? This emergency room solution also doesn't provide a practical means for those with long-term illnesses to get care. More than anything, this "solution" seems a bit ignorant and impractical.

     While I support the president's plan, I would like to see the "few things that need to be ironed out," get ironed out. Especially in the areas that concern those without coverage. If our congressmen and women can work across the aisle and pare down the President's plan to one that is manageable financially but still achieves the overall goals, I believe the entire country will benefit from it. 

     In the words of Senator Ted Kennedy, who spent his entire term in the Senate pushing for healthcare reform, "What we face," he wrote, "is above all a moral issue; at stake are not just the details of policy, but fundamental principles of social justice and the character of our country." Social justice and the character of our country. I think that really says it all.