Here are my comments on this Sunday’s editorial in the New York Times pitching apocalyptic woo about the Affordable Care Act, just the latest in a long line of such screeds:
The difference between the two points of view (Democrat and Republican) can be summed up as either “we’re all in this together” or “all for me, none for thee.” Those of us who subscribe to the former gladly pay in more while we’re healthy and prosperous, knowing the wheel will someday turn and we will have needs that are larger than we can shoulder alone.
Illness or an accident, like tornados and floods, come suddenly and without warning. When it happens to you, after you choose not to carry insurance or have inadequate coverage, will you shrug your shoulders and accept the consequences of your bad choice? No, you will enter the system anyway, and the rest of us will still have to subsidize you with higher overall healthcare costs. This is why our previous system was falling and why it’s imperative that everyone be insured.
I did not add in my original comment that I strongly support universal healthcare. It is one of the missions of my job, something I work toward every day. I don’t think we can progress as a species as long as a portion of our population is suffering without access to healthcare. It baffles me that so many people in this country would strive so ardently to deny healthcare access to their fellow citizens.
Shannon Turlington 