An Ounce of Prevention

Okay, so health insurance companies say they need to continue to raise premium rates so drastically because so many healthy people are choosing not to carry insurance. And this makes sense to me. If all people carried insurance then the cost would be properly spread out, not to mention fewer people would end up being treated in the emergency rooms once their health has become critical. An ounce of prevention and all that jazz. This makes sense to me.

So the question then becomes why don't insurance companies use their powerful lobbyist and even more powerful contribution dollars to push the government towards that end? Why do they choose instead to push them into tax breaks and other policies that serve only their bottom lines. People right now are fearful of the health care bill that is before us. Nobody wants to trust the government with something so important and personal. But I'm more fearful of the insurance companies because it is very clear they are not looking out for any of their customers.

To me this is an issue of humanity. We have decided as a nation that education is important so everyone who pays taxes is contributing to the cost of educating our nation's children regardless if they have any or not. We have decided as a nation that roads are important so everyone who pays taxes is contributing to the construction and maintenance of these roads even if they don't drive on them. I don't understand why we have not decided that health care is important enough to set up a system of coverage and access for everyone. This is an issue of humanity. And It is critically important to the survival of this superpower.