In response to my friend, Douglas Beezley of Norwalk, CA

Do you have health insurance? If so, then being forced to buy something is not on your plate. Are you a veteran? If so do you have VA benefits? If not, would you take it if eligible? That is socialized medicine. How about Medicare? Do you plan to turn that down when you retire? That isn't socialized medical care, but it is socialized medical insurance. Aside from the controversy over the “individual mandate” (originally a Republican proposal) there is nothing socialized about the Affordable Care Act (Obama-care as some say). The Affordable Care Act has such despicable provisions as requiring insurance companies to pay out at least 80% of premiums in actual health care. Many keep MUCH more for profits and for creating mechanisms to avoid paying health benefits. The profit motive is to charge as much as you can get away with and to pay out as little as you can get away with. Thing is... you pay in up front and only find out about the payouts later. Or... maybe you are fortunate enough to have someone pay your premiums for really great care.

When you speak of the people... I imagine a majority of the "people" (not all, certainly) would say no to the notion of "socialized medicine". However, real polls of real people consistently show that people believe everyone should have ACCESS to affordable health care. When asked about each of the factual components of the Affordable Care Act, "the people" overwhelmingly support it.

As for the "individual mandate" I'm not happy about that either. I think there are better ways. Do you know why the individual mandate is in there in the first place? Like I said, it has been, for decades, Republicans who supported it. They would rather have that than some sort of "universal health" program... right up until the President said "OK, let's do it your way." So, why in the world would the Republicans have suggested such a thing?

The reason is they used to admit to understanding that uninsured people in the country are a big problem for everyone. There are two primary reasons people DON'T have health insurance. The big one is that they can't afford it. The other is that some people don't want it.

You know who it is that doesn't want to have health insurance? That would be the young and healthy. Let’s take, for example, a young and healthy guy who would rather have more money to buy, say, a big motorcycle. Now, suppose that guy has a wreck and is paralyzed. He now has lots of hospital bills and a lifetime of rehab and support. He goes bankrupt and doesn't pay the hospital. Who does pay the hospital? YOU DO! I DO! The hospital increases charges for everyone else. That also makes it more expensive for YOU to get health care and it makes YOUR insurance costs higher.

You know how else the uninsured cost you money? The reason for insurance is to spread the risk... plain and simple. Everyone pays in and only SOME of the people get back what they paid in. When younger and healthier people are NOT in the system the risk pool is, on the average, older and less healthy. Everyone else pays more to make up the difference. Additionally, uninsured people are not likely to get early diagnosis and treatment, so they go to the emergency room when their condition has become MUCH more expensive.

Over the years, my health insurance costs have gone up so much, I can no longer afford the kind of coverage I used to have. We pay more and get less. In a year and a half, I will be eligible for Medicare. I am thankful for that. I know that the administrative costs in Medicare are about 7%. Compare that to health insurance companies kicking and screaming about being limited to 20% for administration and profit. I'm not hearing too many of "the people" wanting Medicare to go away. On the other hand, Republicans would prefer that we end Medicare, hand me a voucher and tell me to fend for myself with the insurance companies. They would prefer that rather to raise the cap on Medicare taxes so that the richest pay a little more into it.

Knowing what I know now and looking back on my experience with health insurance... you know what I would rather have done? I wish I could have used the money that went into health insurance and purchased Medicare benefits. I don't mean getting any freebies... I mean actually paying my share. Of course, that can't happen because that would be called the "Public Option". That’s what would have happened if the result had actually been “Obama Care” rather than what we have today.

So, what do we actually have today? I admit that the “individual mandate” is controversial and may derail the whole thing. At least be aware that it was an idea meant to solve a real and expensive problem. Aside from that I find nothing in the act that is socialism. In fact, the Act does nothing to infringe on the people’s choice. It offers the people much MORE choice while leaving the insurance companies intact. It is not a “one size fits all” solution, as each state is able to determine its own way of meeting the Act’s provisions.

Here is where you can see the actual law as it is… including the text of the law itself:

http://www.healthcare.gov/law/index.html

Here is the Wikipedia write up of the law, it’s progress and legal battles:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patient_Protection_and_Affordable_Care_Act

Here is a source of information about the Act as presented by a collection of health care organizations:

http://www.healthcareandyou.org/

This includes American Association of Retired Persons, American Academy of Family Physicians, American Cancer Society, American College of Physicians, American Heart Association, American Medical Association, American Nurses Association, Catholic Health Association, National Community of Pharmacists Association and many more.