My First Week In Washington D.C.
I’ve been in Washington D.C. for one week and I have met 2 Senators (Akaka and Inouye of Hawaii), 2 Representatives (newly elected Judy Chu and Mike Honda), and got to go to Barack Obama’s Health Care Rally. It’s been amazing!
My view on Health Care Reform is from my own experiences and my ideals. I lived in Japan for a year where my health insurance bill only cost $15US a month. That is cheap as hell! I remember getting free medicine - eye drops, ear infection stuff, and cold pills - from my school clinic at Chiba. Why can’t the US have a public option?
If everyone bought into the public option, there would be more people pooling their money together to make costs lower. For people with private insurance, your costs would go down too because private insurance companies would have to compete with the public option. The media, especially the conservatives, are feeding lies about the new plan as opposed to the words I heard from Obama’s mouth on Thursday.
For me Universal Health Care is about freedom in the most free of all countries in the world. Our States need to give a public option so people can live their lives the way they want to. No one should be denied health coverage because they are undocumented or have pre-existing conditions. No one should have to worry about getting sick and being in debt to medical care because they couldn’t afford to pay.
I want to be free in this country but I can’t without affordable health care. When I commute to work everyday by bicycle, I worry that I met get into an accident. I would be physically handicapped and unable to pay off my medical bill. I love snowboarding and wish to become a skillful surfer, but these dreams are not possible if I don’t have health care.
