All should be insured against medical catastophes

Over the past few weeks we have seen a very lively debate about the current legislation to reform the health care in our country. We have seen some very lively characters pointed out at town halls across the country; the media seems to hone in on these people quite well. What we unfortunately do not see is that at many of the town hall meetings the majority of the people are there to get information from their elected representatives.

It is unfortunate that everyone does not have the opportunity to hear their representatives in person; it is much more beneficial then what we see on our televisions, whether you agree with your representative or not. What is amazing to me, as an American, is what we take for granted every day that we have because of our laws, with which the majority of Americans agree to.

We agree to fund our military, roads, police, education, fire fighters, water systems, the list in endless. Every day we fund these programs and services that we all value. We even agree, here in Minnesota, that it is appropriate to insure our vehicles. It is the law to do so. But when it comes to insuring the well being of our bodies, the sole vehicle that allows us to do everything that we do on a daily basis, we do not value that above all of the programs and services that I listed above. We, as law- abiding Minnesotans, value insuring our motor vehicles more then insuring the safety and well being of our physical bodies.

There is something drastically wrong with this reality. If you get into an accident with your car and you have adequate insurance, your car will get fixed or replaced. But, if you get cancer, or have a heart attack, etc. , and you don’t have health insurance, you’re in for a great deal of physical and financial hardship, and your body cannot be replaced unfortunately.

It makes no sense to me that we do not require, by law, that everyone to be insured against the countless catastrophic medical disasters that can alter your health for the rest of your life. I believe it is in everyone’s best interest to remember what can happen to your health at any moment. That is why we need everyone, in one form or another, to be insured against medical catastrophes.