Health Care and the Public Option

Health Care reform has been a hot topic since the election campaign, when President Obama made it a center piece of his campaign. He promised to try to do something about it. Oddly enough, he has worked hard to keep this promise. The Republicans have worked harder to block, it for no other reason than to try to gain political points. Interestingly, I do not think they have gained anything, but I do think they have lost much prestige due to their underhanded methods and the frankness of their negative rhetoric.

The GOP openly created havoc at so-called town hall meetings around the country with their rude and loud plants causing trouble and making it appear to some that the entire country is against health care reform. Nothing, of course, is farther from the truth as the American people are straining hard to make ends meet and pay for health insurance that continues to rise in cost as coverage weakens. Last week we received a letter from our Congressman, Nathan Deal (R), one of the most corrupt members of Congress, according to one non-partisan watchdog group. Mr. Deal wrote that the entire country is against health care reform. I responded on his website and advised him that he needed to rethink that statement.

It appears that some kind of health care plan is on the immediate horizon. It also appears that there will be a public option on the table. The interesting thought that has occurred to me is whether there will be a rush to sign up, when a public option is made available. My guess is that many of those town hall shouters and gun toters will be some of the first ones in line. Oh, they will complain about "government run" health care, but they will quietly take advantage of it, just like those who cannot wait until their medicare takes affect. I think they call that talking out of both sides of the mouth.

Another interesting thought is the future of health care for those who are on 401k retirements and have no company retirement health care. Private health care insurance is outrageously high. I wonder what will happen to those folks when they retire, if there is no public health care option. Will they stick it out until age 65 or higher if the rules change? Will they have no health care between retirement and Medicare age, or will they simply have to work until age 65 in order to keep reasonably cost effective insurance.

One wonders how many of those folks who will really need a public option in the future have been among the loud mouthed nincompoops at town halls. Then there are the loud, rude, and uncouth teabaggers. I wonder how many of them are secretly hoping for a public health care option. I expect there are many closet public option folks, who are anticipating a cheaper option and will knock the closet door down, when it becomes available.