English Draft

I'm excited to be writing about the health care reform. For those of you who read my blog and wonder why this is up it's for an English assignment and I'm glad I'm getting the opportunity to bring politics into my writing.

Since President Obama became a proponent of a public option for health care, it has been attacked by both conservative politicians and some Americans. I believe that the main reason for this is because they are uneducated as to what the bill actually says, and what would happen as a result of the bill. A large portion of people are basing how they feel about the bill off of what specific media sources tell them. For instance, the commercials that are being ran against reform and a public option are being paid for by insurance companies (i.e. the only people who a public option would hurt). In order to help clear the air on some misconceptions, I found a great video on the White House's website that explains what the health care reform actually is.

Of course the video only shows the basics, but you can read the entire thing at the White House website. As many of you know, this is a really important issue for me because if it passes I would be able to get insurance on my own and not have to worry about outrageous medical bills. Also important is the fact that, under current insurance guidelines, companies can choose not to cover rape survivors as being raped is a 'preexisting condition' in several states; reform would make it illegal to discriminate health care based on if a person was sexually attacked by someone else.

In my opinion, the only people who have something to lose because of health care reform are the insurance companies. People have said that it would not be fair because they would be unable to choose if they want health insurance or not; they would automatically have to pay for it. In the video, however, Obama points out that it is an option. Besides, who does not want health insurance? Diseases and illness will always be around and therefore we are always at risk for catching them. I would like to have the comfort of knowing that when I go to the hospital I'll be taken care of and my bills won't be expensive. No-one deserves to die, or become poor, simply because they happened to get sick from something outside of their control. The idea that you should lose everything you have on random chance goes against the ideals of hard work, dedication and perseverance that made this country great.