Article: Health Care Reform and the making of Strange Bedfellows

The old saying, � ��"politics makes strange bedfellows� �� , has new meaning for me. If you take out the stupid arguments such as obsessive even compulsive concern that illegal residents will be covered, or insurance companies have some sort of divine right to profit off our health care or rather denying us that health care, this is one person on the left that thinks many folks on the right have legitimate concerns, not unlike my own. Access is only one axes of legitimate concern about health care reform. Cost and Quality of care are also legitimate concerns. On this, I agree with the right. I also agree that this health care reform, as it has become manifest to date, is too costly, and there are reasons to be concerned with quality of care.
Public Option amounts to a windfall for insurance companies, a greater tax burden upon the people, and sustaining a socially stratified system where quality of care is jeopardized by profit motives. Public Option will likely make health care more expensive, and quality is likely to be further eroded. Currently in the U.S. our richest most privileged people can expect inferior health care to the poorest French citizen. For once reform can benefit us all, as patients if not as insurers, or some health care providers. The problem is most of us have heard nothing about this reform that could benefit us all, about Single Payer HR 676.
Single Payer helps us all save money and get the care we need by defining health care as a human right and ensuring full coverage for every LEGAL resident. Should we be concerned with government having too much control over our health care? Perhaps? But, then that is why we should make sure to start with 30 comprehensible pages of reform (single Payer) that guarantees any citizen can go to any physician of their choice and get medical care, and then go from there to get what we need, rather than from over 2,000 of incomprehensible legislation written by those representing those who have extracted gross profits off providing Americans an evil sort of anti-health care.
What we need is:
1. Insurance companies to be shut out of the health care business.
2. For Patients rights and informed consent legislation to be passed that would guarantee patients are adequately informed and consent acquired for care. Such legislation would outlaw the kickbacks for referrals to specialists, teaching institutions, labs, imaging companies, or physician economic interests in the same. Physicians should be paid a salary rather than on a fee basis. College tuition for health care providers should be free. Both decreasing costs and improving care.
3. For EVERYONE to get the same health care, including providers.
4. By eliminating the profits of insurance companies and the unnecessary procedures and tests performed for profit making rather than patient health, everyone can be covered, quality improved, and we can still save money.
Thus, I have awoken to a strange bedfellow, many of those on the right who are concerned that this so called � ��"public option� �� legislation will be too costly and will reduce quality of care.
In solidarity, we the people, need to advocate that this legislation be thrown out, and we start over from scratch. Then, we need to go back to the town halls, but this time for dialogue rather than politicians trying to shove their proposal down our throats.