Waiting In Line For A Facelift

I heard a bit about the "Wal-Mart secret healthcare memo" today, which makes the retail giant out to be the bad guy. Of course that's an easy shot because Wal-Mart IS pure evil, but the fact that Wal-Mart is having problems dealing with healthcare coverage should put the focus back on the state of healthcare rather than simply beating up on the devil again.

I remember well the 1992 Presidential Election and the issues that circled around the campaigns. Of course, "it's the economy, stupid," is what everyone remembers, but concerns with the cost of, and growing population without health insurance became a major talking point. Soon after taking office, Bill put Hilary in charge of the plan, and the words "UNIVERSAL HEALTHCARE" were all over the news. At that time, I also remember a lot of people parroting what the conservative talking heads kept telling them, "You don't want to wait in line like they do in Canada, do you?!"

Clinton, having been more of a centrist than a leftist, was not pushing for a government controlled national health, but as time goes on, it is beginning to look like we must look more closely at a national plan. I know people, including my parents, without enough coverage due to recent career changes late in life. I know many who claim to have lost much of their coverage over the years. I have just changed jobs (headed from the book world to the hardware world), and for the first 90 days, I have no coverage. Of course Cobra is offered, but one would need to take out a major bank loan to afford it.

Two things that Americans count on, Healthcare and Social Security, are both headed into the crapper, and the only solutions I have ever heard involve keeping it in the hands of private interests. Although I understand that fiscally we need to stay fairly centered, I still don't understand how a war for "whatever" can take precedence over the health of citizens.