With the Supreme court ruling on the Affordable Care Act of 2010 coming in March about the constitutionality of whether or not the government has the right to impose another unfunded mandate on the citizens of the United States comes at a time when so many millions of our citizens still cannot afford any health insurance at all. To require all to go out and purchase health insurance is in many instances going to open up a whole assortment of laws and mandates that the government has passed where, like the Affordable Health Care Act of 2010, is just another mandate imposed on the public and businesses that can least afford it.
It was just two years ago that the government passed a mandate for the conversion of analog signals that Television used from it’s inception to be switched to digital signals. This decree demanded the communications industry convert from their regular transmissions to televisions so that now all reception will have to be via high definition for TV viewing by 2009. This posed several problems. First: This is an unfunded mandate imposed on the public. Some will call it a blatant act of a totalitarian state. Second: Most of the population can ill afford the cost to purchase high definition TV’s, pay for cable, FIOS from the local telephone company’s or get the converter box to configure with their existing television sets. There is no mention of how long these converter boxes will last, what kind of reception, or any extra costs involved to have them installed, repaired or replaced. Third: These converter boxes are being made outside the United States and when we here in America are forced to purchase goods made outside our country our trade deficit becomes greater and our own economy declines. This is just one of the many instances where congress deliberately forgets their responsibilities to the American public. The government has and is evolving further away from equal representation, where the top 5% of the wealthiest population dictates to the rest of the 95% poorest citizens. Our election laws have made it almost impossible to regain a balance of equal and just representation in all levels of government.
The Dr.Oz show on the Day before Thanksgiving focused on the continuing unconscionable conditions millions of Americans are in today. Finding this nation still puts over 65 million Americans in critical condition because they are with-out any health care coverage, can’t afford health care insurance, are turned down treatment because they don’t have insurance, or can’t afford to pay for treatment anyway. The stories of countless individuals who manage to walk into the free health clinics held in major cities all over the United States just underscores the importance and the necessity that this country must implement Universal Health Care. The dire conditions of millions of Americans constantly live under is unacceptable here in the United States. Where millions are just a paycheck away from being forced out into the cold. Where millions more are faced with acute hunger each day. Where even more millions have no safety net to cling to and are cast aside by the rest of society. All these are the harsh realities of over 70% of the American population today.
When we look at the recent Affordable Health Care Act of 2010 and relate what is actually taking place in cities and towns all across the country the only way to remedy the critical conditions this country is in is, and has to be, to establish Universal Health Care. A single payer plan similar to the European, Scandinavian and Canadian systems. The United States is the only industrialized nation that does not provide Universal Health Care of all it’s citizens. The for profit health insurance industry is in many ways a very major contributor to the medical crisis and the economic crisis this country still faces. The way the insurance lobby controls most of the funding that goes into the coffers of incumbents in government is just one example why the United States political system is so inept at solving the medical and economic crisis here in the United States. Sure, if your an elected official and be at the top 5% of the population then you can afford “top flight” health insurance, but for the majority of Americans we are left in critical condition.
With an overwhelming support of 90% of all Physicians today, the majority of Registered and Licensed Practical Nurses, and thousands of medical support personnel all agree that the current health care systems really are putting more and more Americans on that critical condition list. When President Lyndon Johnson signed the Medicaid and Medicare Act of 1964 little did the government know that these two acts would turn out to become the most bloated and costly agencies in our government today. Filled with bureaucratic red tape, ripe with fraud, and actively encourages cost overruns with over billing all of which continues to destabilize Americas economy. All of which puts more Americans in critical condition.
Not only is our economy still faltering but the nations overall health is rapidly deteriorating. Some very sobering facts are that today’s rate of childhood obesity, which bring about all the various types of diabetes, has reached epic proportions. Contributing to this gowning concern is that our food, our nutrition, and our lifestyle are all major contributors to the dramatic rise of all these and more medical conditions. Not only are the youth of this country but the growing number of adults that are also falling victim to the risks that by becoming and being so over weight brings. Each year countless thousands of Americans are falling victim to governmental unresponsiveness, health insurance companies increasing costs, employers limiting their health coverage and worse yet to employers who lay off employees who now have to either pay out of pocket for private health insurance when they can least afford it or go with-out. This is what is happening all over the United States today.
The urgent need to respond now is so imperative that to delay any longer poses more of a threat just as great as any terrorist attack. When congress is too blind to see and looks the other way when confronted by the growing plight of millions of Americans who continue to languish in not only economic depravation but medical conditions that contribute to that economic depravation by not being able to procure health insurance when they need it most is a testament to the true callous, unsympathetic, and even ruthless behavior of elected officials who only protect and serve their own incumbency. The self serving ideology of members of Congress continues to put this nations population in critical condition.
Only when the United States implements Universal Health Care into our society will the gross neglect of the health of the population begin to recover, the economic resurgence of this country will prevail and every American will now be assured of being able to have the available opportunities which brings about economic stability and growth this nation needs to preserve the future for generations to come.