In Response

As we all know the major topic of discussion these days is on socializing health care. I recently read this post from Keegan (this is where I'd put that link that would take you to his blog but I don't know how to do that) about his initial issues and opinions on what socializing health care in America would mean. In response to his blog I'd like to share my background and why I am in favor of changing our health care system in America.

As many of you know I was born in The Netherlands which you could say has some sort of socialized health care (technically it's not but let me explain). In The Netherlands they have a dual system (and to warn you I had to look up some info on wikipedia, so take it with a grain of salt) in which government health care is required for everyone for serious and permanent health conditions. With that however, most citizens still have the right to have an obligatory (privatized) health insurance that covers basic health care needs.

Now I didn't realize how fortunate I was until I was married and we had to try to fend for ourselves. I don't know many young families that can afford our private health insurance here in America. It was shocking to find out that many of my married peers didn't have any type of health coverage. Scary thought especially considering many of them bringing children into the world with no means of providing for them. How is it that young, tax paying, law abiding citizens(for the most part) who go to a government funded state university cannot afford the peace of mind knowing that you'll be taken care of no matter what comes your way.

When Nolan and I started shopping around for health insurance, we realized that at this point in our lives all we needed was something that would provide for us in case a tragic event or serious condition came up. Honestly we thought we might have to go into debt just to pay for basic catastrophic health insurance. How outrageous is that? Why would I have to go into debt or pay ridiculous costs to insure that nothing serious happens to me? I personally have the mentality (and if you know mine and my families health history you'll know why) that you can never underestimate the importance of health insurance. No matter what, no matter how healthy you try to live your life, something will always come up and to not have health insurance would be devastating. Luckily with my parents help and the fact that I still have dual citizenship I can be taken care of.

Obviously you can see how I am such a fan of this system. Like in The Netherlands and many other European countries our health care system doesn't have to be a scary, purely, socialized system. I would prefer that our country goes for a more dual system because it's still providing basic rights to everyone while still allowing a bit of room for some capitalism (which heaven forbid America can't be America if there's no capitalism).

So there you go Keegan and for those random other few who must be bored out of their mind to read my super exciting and extreme view on this topic. Hopefully I didn't sound too ignorant. I'm always afraid to speak my mind because I hate ignorance and don't ever want to be like that.