I don’t understand the uproar over “The public option” in President Obama’s plan for health care reform. Some people act as if government-sponsored health insurance was a threat to the American way of life. Yet, our country holds “public options” in such high esteem that one is enshrined in the Bill of Rights and explained on a daily basis by police officers around the country: the right to legal counsel. As the Miranda warning puts it, “You have the right for an attorney to be present. If you can’t afford one, one will be appointed for you.” What is a public defender besides a legal public option? You’re not compelled to accept it, nor does it compete with other forms of legal counsel, but it must be made available. That’s the intention of “The public option” in Obama’s proposed reform, too. That health care be available to everyone.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
...then you would have to change the bill of rights, no?
ReplyDeleteFortunately, we live in a time when you can have government-sponsored health care without changing the constitution. Thus, we have Medicare, Medicaid and the Veterans Health Administrtion. The principal of universality still applies and objections to "public options" as unamerican are still wrong and very likely disengenuous.
ReplyDelete