Health Care Reform

I haven't posted for awhile, as I've been so discouraged by most of the education news that I've read.  So this is a post on health care.  I've been listening to the congressional hearings all week, and then read here this article in the NYTimes. If you've been following the debate, then you too have heard the same talking points over and over again.  So I went to a website I frequently follow, PatternReview.com, and read their comments.  Much more thoughtful!  And then I posted this comment to the NY Times article:

I've just spent a good deal of time reading a thread on PatternReview.com--26 pages of messages--in which members of the site, discuss health insurance.  This is a group of mostly women from all over the world who love to sew. I've been on the site for years, and know the posters to be very practical, thrifty, and compassionate.

To a person, posters from other countries think we're crazy for not having a single-payer system.  Sewers from the U.K., from Australia, from Canada, and from France just can't believe the horror stories about insurance that some people from the U.S. post.

I can't remember even one message that dealt with the poor web functioning.  That was a non-issue.  These women were concerned with what the law would mean for their family budgets, and I have to say I was impressed with the research they have done.

So my take-away is that politicians should not underestimate the public.  There was very little whining about not being able to keep their current doctors--instead, understanding about why that was happening.  The bottom line for almost all of these women was what the law would mean for their families. 

I think smart politicians should forget their talking points, and instead have realistic discussions about what the law is and how to navigate it. 

Oh, and this is a personal reaction to the congressional hearings this last week:  I am very, very, very tired of the bullying these (mostly men) subjected the people testifying  (who were mostly women.) to. 

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/01/us/politics/troubled-start-for-health-law-has-democrats-feeling-anxious.html?hp&_r=0