Although many people voiced their opinions about Obamacare, too many more did not. I'm not going to get into the pros and cons of the health care reform that just passed. Suffice it to say that we can get this legislation repealed, and I pray that we do it.
What I want to talk about is why so many citizens didn't respond, didn't act, didn't protest or endorse these bills.
Many formal polls showed that an overwhelming number of Americans are against this particular set of reforms. But those polls, a "sampling" of Americans, don't accurately reflect the number of people who are ignorant or just don't care, because those are the people who either weren't surveyed or refused to respond. Notice there aren't any numbers published for those people.
I conducted an informal poll of my friends and neighbors who are mostly middle class, and was stunned at the results. Almost 80% didn't know any of the particulars of the bills. Of the remaining 20%, 5% were "somewhat familiar" with the legislation. The other 15% had a vague idea (a lot of it wrong) of what the legislation encompassed.
Of the people I surveyed, overall 23% were in favor of the bill, 40% against and an unbelievable 37% had no opinion.
The majority of the people who were for reform fell into the 20% who were either somewhat familiar with the legislation or had a vague idea (often erroneous) what it encompassed.
The number that concerns me the most is the 80% who were completely unfamiliar with the particulars of the legislation. A lot of those people said they don't watch the news because it's too depressing.
Others said outright that they don't believe they can do anything about what the government is up to, so why bother? Most of these people don't vote, by the way, for the same reason.
How can we reach the apathetic among our citizens? What can we do to convince them that their votes and voices make a difference, without sounding like a bunch of alarmists? I think we all know that the government isn't going to launch a campaign to get people involved...
Any ideas? Anyone?
Showing posts with label health care reform. Show all posts
Showing posts with label health care reform. Show all posts
March 22, 2010
August 03, 2009
Politicians Make Bad Doctors...
...in more ways than one. Obama's health care reform seems to be a good idea. Yes, it's true that millions of Americans don't have health insurance and that having health insurance is a good thing. Ergo, we (meaning the government) should do something about getting health insurance for those people. President Obama and his liberal cohorts make that sound like a simple problem with a simple solution. Just approve the President's health care reform and voila! All fixed.
I disagree. I see the millions of uninsured and underinsured as a symptom of a bigger problem. Contrary to politicians, a good doctor won't simply treat the symptoms; s/he will look for the cause and treat that instead (thereby eliminating the symptoms). Politicians are just treating the symptoms with this ridiculous health care proposal. Americans need decent jobs to pay for health insurance. They need education to get those jobs. Why doesn't the government spend those trillions of dollars on boosting small business and funding scholarships so more Americans can go to college? Why don't they treat the cause and not the symptom?
Another reason politicians make bad doctors becomes visible if you look deeper into the proposed health care reform. If passed, it would put a bureaucrat in charge of your health. The government would set standards for health care, including who can receive what - tests, surgeries, treatments, drugs. I don't know about you but I want my doctor to decide that, not somebody without a medical degree who is only focused on the costs. If my child is sick I don't care what it costs to get him well again - I'll pay it. Somehow.
And the killing blow to Obama's health care reform is this: where is the US going to get enough doctors and nurses to treat the additional 50 million insured? Doctors, hospitals and clinics are already stretched to the limit providing care for those who currently have insurance. How can our existing pool meet the additional demand?
Notes:
"Of the 45.7 million U. S. residents without health insurance, 20 million are employees - or in the families of employees - of businesses with 50 or fewer employees." - National Center for Policy Analysis, No. 642, Wednesday, February 11, 2009, Daniel Wityk: http://www.ncpa.org/pub/ba642
"Small businesses drive the nation's economy—more than 95 percent of all businesses in the United States [emphasis added] have fewer than 500 employees..." - U.S. News & World Report, "Small Businesses Hold on Despite Economy: Weak consumer spending and lack of credit take their toll on small-business owners, but many persevere" July 22, 2009, Matthew Bandyk: http://www.usnews.com/articles/business/small-business-entrepreneurs/2009/07/22/small-businesses-hold-on-despite-economy.html
I disagree. I see the millions of uninsured and underinsured as a symptom of a bigger problem. Contrary to politicians, a good doctor won't simply treat the symptoms; s/he will look for the cause and treat that instead (thereby eliminating the symptoms). Politicians are just treating the symptoms with this ridiculous health care proposal. Americans need decent jobs to pay for health insurance. They need education to get those jobs. Why doesn't the government spend those trillions of dollars on boosting small business and funding scholarships so more Americans can go to college? Why don't they treat the cause and not the symptom?
Another reason politicians make bad doctors becomes visible if you look deeper into the proposed health care reform. If passed, it would put a bureaucrat in charge of your health. The government would set standards for health care, including who can receive what - tests, surgeries, treatments, drugs. I don't know about you but I want my doctor to decide that, not somebody without a medical degree who is only focused on the costs. If my child is sick I don't care what it costs to get him well again - I'll pay it. Somehow.
And the killing blow to Obama's health care reform is this: where is the US going to get enough doctors and nurses to treat the additional 50 million insured? Doctors, hospitals and clinics are already stretched to the limit providing care for those who currently have insurance. How can our existing pool meet the additional demand?
Notes:
"Of the 45.7 million U. S. residents without health insurance, 20 million are employees - or in the families of employees - of businesses with 50 or fewer employees." - National Center for Policy Analysis, No. 642, Wednesday, February 11, 2009, Daniel Wityk: http://www.ncpa.org/pub/ba642
"Small businesses drive the nation's economy—more than 95 percent of all businesses in the United States [emphasis added] have fewer than 500 employees..." - U.S. News & World Report, "Small Businesses Hold on Despite Economy: Weak consumer spending and lack of credit take their toll on small-business owners, but many persevere" July 22, 2009, Matthew Bandyk: http://www.usnews.com/articles/business/small-business-entrepreneurs/2009/07/22/small-businesses-hold-on-despite-economy.html
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