View from the Bridge

A Vote for Bipartisan Healthcare Reform

Believe it or not, many months ago, during the Presidential debates, I mentioned that almost nothing was being discussed regarding healthcare.

Well things have certainly changed!!

Now both sides of the political aisle are high and mighty about Obamacare–repeal, replace, fix, and on and on. Mostly rhetoric. Different than Obamacare, which Nancy Pelosi famously said no one had read before they voted to approve it, the Republican Senate bill is relatively short, so hopefully at least some have endeavored to give it a read.

The major issues that Obamacare dealt with are still with us—access/coverage and cost containment. These two issues are in conflict: how do we provide more coverage at a lesser cost?? Not any easy question to answer, especially given all the factions that have a stake in this 18% of our economy.

What is remarkable is that all the Democrats think that Obamacare is good and simply needs mending, while almost all the Republicans think that Obamacare is evil and needs immediate repeal. Politics overrides everything, including our health and wellness.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if the two parties could work on this together?? Are we not supposed to be one America?? Most quickly agree that we are, but then act otherwise. High and mighty.

I am not overtly political and therefore don’t have a ready way out of the situation that confronts us. Maybe we should all write our Senators and Representatives and tell them to check their political biases at the door. Tell them that healthcare is too important a subject to treat with the outright partisanship that heretofore they have shown. That they should work together to develop a system that works much better than today. Regardless of what we call it.

Maybe we should do that. Want to??

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