Having defended lobsters in my previous post it's time to worry about the humans!So... is it fair for those of us who have health insurance to say... I have my insurance. You worry about yours.
Am I my brother's keeper?
That may not be an easy question to answer. Most of us would certainly help up a stranger that fell on the sidewalk, but would we be willing to pay more in taxes or health insurance premiums so a stranger could have health coverage as well? Many right-wing radio pundits say you're on your own and that the government is under no obligation to help.
Hm. We are all connected by our economy, and healthcare is part of that economy. Maybe my neighbor bought a gas-guzzler and I didn't, or greedily bought a house way over their capacity to pay, but many of my neighbors didn't make imprudent decisions. In this economy bad things are happening to good people and the number of the unemployed without health insurance is rising. The uninsured and underinsured come from every social strata; they are you and me and came to be in this predicament through no fault of theirs. Currently I feel safe in my employer-provided group plan, but my neighbor's plight may become my own.
This being the case, if we don't care about the worries of our neighbors for their sake, we need to care about them for our sake. I am encouraged that President Obama plans to finally DO something about this and trust that he will. Already he has reauthorized the CHIP bill (extending health coverage to 4 million uninsured children) in what he said was a first step in his broad plan to provide healthcare to all Americans. I'm glad Obama is my keeper.
Hopefully it won't come to this!
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