Universal Healthcare

I cannot even begin to imagine what kind of person would EVER be against healthcare for every person in the country- the poor and the rich, the young and the poor.

The issue of HEALTH, is not a matter of red states and blue states. It is not a matter of republicans and democrats. Health should not and CANNOT be a luxury. EVERY single person in this country has a basic right to health. And guess what? Every single person- includes poor people, those who- at the moment- cannot afford health care.

When I have debated this subject, the arguments I have heard is that when you give things like healthcare away- then people won't be motivated to work hard to get them. And that people that don't work hard, shouldn't have healthcare. The thing is people SHOULD NOT have to work hard for their health. If there is a basic right that everyone is born with- it's the right to health. Many Republicans seem to think that if you're poor you're guilty of something and therefore don't deserve things like healthcare.

I challenge you to think about this- imagine you or whichever loved one you depend on for income is fired from their job and loses their healthcare. They get a terminal disease that will cost your family thousands of dollars. On top of having to battle cancer- they have to battle insurance companies. On top of trying to stay alive you have to try to cover the bills. And- this- is simply inhumane.

What I think many people don't understand is that by making healthcare mandatory- the healthcare companies will be making higher profits and therefore LOWERING the cost of healthcare- making it for the first time in this nation's history- ACCESSIBLE!!!

France has been voted time and time again to have the best health program in the world. This judges many things including the quality of the doctors, hospitals and technology. In these senses the United States comes out strong. However, one of the qualities- ACCESSIBILITY, always causes the United States to plummet on the list.

Every child and adult, every employed and unemployed person, every rich and poor person should- and rather MUST- have healthcare. People cannot be scared to death (no pun intended) that if they lose their job, they could die for lack of treatment or drown in millions of bills. Universal healthcare ensures health for the people of our nation- and this should be the country's main priority.

While Obama is steadily working on this- this is NOT something we can steadily do. Democrats have the majority in the Senate and if the new administration weren't so busy trying to please everyone- which cannot be done- we could have passed this already. We need to act now- because death doesn't wait. We need to ensure that every person in this country has the right to health.

What happened to those little phrases- Everyone is created Equal? Everyone has the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness? If everyone is created equal- then shouldn't everyone be born with the right to health? If we all have the right to life- do we have the right to maintain life? How can we pursue happiness when we're drowning in bills and are unable to get the treatment we need to LIVE.

In honor of Senator Ted Kennedy.