Ted Rall on Obamacare

[illusionofjoy]

Ted Rall's syndicated column this week takes aim at Obama's half-assed plan for healthcare reform. The money quote:

There is no true middle ground on healthcare. The most civilized and efficient approach, tried and tested by the rest of the industrialized world, is fully socialized medicine. Put the insurance vampires out of business. Cutting out the health profiteers and encouraging preventative care will save hundreds of billions of dollars a year.

Failing a comprehensive solution, let the free market reign. True, 20,000 Americans will continue to die each year due to lack of insurance. But private healthcare corporations will continue to invest in innovative treatments and medications. The city of Hartford will keep adding shiny new skyscrapers to its skyline--and our taxes won't go even higher over this issue.

Obamacare offers the worst of both worlds--it would be expensive and inadequate.

The main reason I do not support Obama's Public Option plan is because, unlike Single Payer, it does not address the problem: the insurance companies. It is vulgar that we in the United States have placed dollar values on human lives. I recently had a friend mention that due to reorganisation in the company they work for, their employer insurance deductible has sky-rocketed to over $1,000. Under Obama's plan, for-profit insurance companies will be allowed to continue abusing people like that. It is the rare, privileged few who can afford a $1,000 deductible.

Obama's Public Option plan is like sticking a band-aid on a broken leg. It doesn't even begin to address the real problems with the healthcare system in the United States.