The poor cannot afford health insurance. The rich are afraid that the government will take their money to pay for the poor. Ruthlessly, insurance companies seek new ways to deny claims because they want to make a profit. Healthcare providers charge high fees to cover their malpractice insurance. How do we solve the healthcare problem?

We can make health insurance more affordable by introducing new competition to the industry. To compete with the powerful insurance companies, the government must become a player. Of course, we do not want the government to control how we take care of our health, but we do need it to step in because we must think for our poor fellow Americans. We must create a law to force the insurance companies to cover everyone, regardless of pre-existing conditions, but we must choose our method carefully because we do not want to kill the industry with governmental overregulation. We have to hold everyone accountable by creating a functional managed care system that will provide checks and balances. We must utilize technology to make our healthcare system more efficient because it will lower costs. We must focus more on preventing diseases, in lieu of just treating them. In short, we must be proactive when it comes to reforming our healthcare system.

Personally, I do believe that we all must have a choice when we take care of our health. However, the current healthcare system eliminates that choice for the poor because they can no longer afford health insurance. And, I know that many are ready to point out the reasons why they are poor in the first place. Please hold your thoughts. I used to be poor. For more than a decade, I lived without health insurance. I told my roommates that “if I fall sick, do not call 911 or take me to the hospital because my family will not be able to pay the bill”. When one knows that one has no options, one must adopt the “I have nothing to lose” approach. Because I used to be one of them, I must advocate for healthcare reform. For those who are afraid that the government will take away your money to help the poor, I would like to offer an alternative view.

Poverty will never disappear in our society because our free market economy is based on competition. And, competition produces losers and winners. However, our society shall not lose compassion because it defines our American culture. Life is a circle. The rich shall help the poor. And, when the poor become rich, they shall help the other poor. And, unfortunately, there will always be poor people in this world. Therefore, the rich must be willing to take on the responsibility of pulling the imperfect circle of life.

Honestly, I am not afraid that the government will take away my money to improve social structures and our standards of living. However, sometimes, I am doubtful that it is capable of doing as good a job as we expect it to do. I know for sure that the healthcare reform will not be perfect for everyone, but I also know that it will improve the lives of many Americans. When everyone is healthy, everyone will be happy. When everyone is happy and healthy, productivity will increase. And, America will be prosperous, again. We all will be better off.

We all can dream and hope. Therefore, I hope that the Obama administration and current Congress know what they are doing. I hope that they will not bury our nation in debt. I hope that their healthcare reform will not put us in a worse situation than the one that we are in now. I hope that these patriots do care for the American people as they say they do. 

Just having the audacity to hope sometimes is not enough because one must face reality. For me, I will continue to pursue my goal of accumulating $500,000 because I know that in reality I am the one who will help me and my family.