I may not fit the best definition of a socialist, but I often feel like one in context to how many people feel that "good ole" capitalism is just the bees' knees. Unrestrained capitalism brings about things like this.
I do believe in national health care. There is no reason in the world that any American citizen should not have access to medical care that doesn't bankrupt them. My mother, who relies heavily on my father's corporate health care to pay for her very necessary and continuous expensive medical care, has argued with me that national health care would lessen the quality of care that she could receive. They are able to afford very competent and attentive health care and I would never want that to be taken from her or from any other individual.
I believe that a national heatlh care system should allow people to still select to remain on company paid insurance plans if they have them available and can afford them. I personally would probably choose to remain on my employer's health plan, as expensive as it is. Prior to the current plan options, employees had only one option: it was completely free but had a huge deductible and woe unto you should you need any considerable hospital care. I'm much more secure in knowing that the health care I have, while FAR from perfect, will not ruin me should I get run over by a truck tomorrow.
Yet so many citizens can't afford or don't have access to health care. People working hard but living paycheck to paycheck who must forgo preventive and reactive health care for themselves and/or their children because it's so damn expensive. That's a reason I salute corporations like Starbucks, which for all its faults, does provide health care benefits to part-time employees on up. But clearly, as this story shows, you can't rely on corporations to do the right thing and American health care is nothing but another mega-corporation.
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