CHANGE? AGAIN?

I would consider myself 'average Joe American'. I do not know the governments 'doings' inside-and-out. I do not know my congressmens' opinions and voting record on every subject. Maybe I should...it is my right...but I don't. I believe there are more 'Joes' like me out there...than there are those who do know those things.

The new healthcare plan has now been signed by the President. Is it good? Is it bad? I think 'Joe' thinks it's a little of both...but he probably has heard more bad than good.

The President...in my opinion...has made a mistake in NOT making his reasoning for this plan more understood by 'Joe'...and I think he'll pay for that mistake. Oh, he's told 'Joe' that more Americans (30-35 million of the 43 million uninsured) will be able to be insured in the coming years. But the President has not talked down those 'pundits' who have continually told 'Joe' that 'this plan' will cost $1 trillion over the next 10 years. What the President needs to say to 'Joe' is..."maybe it will cost $1 trillion...but if we DON'T do it...it will cost 'THIS MUCH'."

I have patients 'every day'...not once a week...not frequently...but 'every day' who are unemployed and thus uninsured. Most of them I feel sorry for. The guy who has lost his job because the factory is downsizing...or the business closed due to lack of paying customers. That's not 'his' fault. He 'would' work...if he 'could'...but there's just no jobs out there. At least few paying decent money with benefits. I don't mind helping 'this guy'...because he'd likely do it for me if the situation were reversed.

However, I struggle with the '20 something' kid who is having his test while on 'disability'. WHAT!? You are standing on 2 legs, you have 2 arms (albeit covered with tattoos), I see the pack of cigarettes in your pocket...and the cell phone clipped to your pants. And you say your daughter you have with your girlfriend is at your parents house while you're here...and you're heading to McDonald's when you're done because I wouldn't let you eat before the test...and you've convinced someone that the ache in your back has 'disabled' you from working...ever again! YOU...sir...I don't feel sorry for.

In both of these examples...my hospital will probably write off most, if not all, the debt because they won't get paid. In 2009, I believe they wrote off over $50 million in these type situations. And that's just the 2 hospitals I work for. There is a 3rd hospital less than 2 miles away and I'm sure they write off millions too. And an hour away, in Indianapolis, there are probably 15 hospitals...and across the country there are how many hospitals?

How much are they all writing off? The President needs to tell 'Joe' THESE numbers. The $1 trillion dollars for the new plan may seem small in comparison.

Who IS paying for all these write offs? 'Joe' is....that's who.

Since the bill is now passed, I think the President and his fellow Democrats better do some fast talking. America knows that NO Republican voted for the bill...only Democrats.

I believe the reason the President and many of the Democrats now in office...are there...because the country was tired of the direction we were headed with Bush and the Republicans. The buzzword was CHANGE. "We need CHANGE...and we got it!" I believe that same buzzword will be used this fall in the mid-term elections.

For those people who are opposed to the newly passed healthcare plan...and for 'Joe'...who just doesn't understand it but keeps hearing how much it's going to cost him...they will be a strong voice come election time. And they won't care who the Republican candidate is or what his policy is...they will just hear that 'he' didn't vote for the plan and that Democrat 'did'.

The bill, I hear , is 2400 pages in length. I haven't read 2400 pages in the last 10 years and I'm betting 'Joe' hasn't either. I'm guessing few of those in Washington have read every word on every page of that bill. Instead...I'm also guessing...10 of their 'staffers' were each given 240 pages to read and told to return to a meeting to give their summary of those pages. The 10 summaries were combined to make 'one' opinion of the overall document.

President Obama...in my opinion...needs to simplify those 2400 pages into a 5 minute speech that 'Joe' can comprehend and accept...telling him why the 'new' plan is better for him than the 'old' plan. Otherwise...come November...I think we are gonna see ANOTHER CHANGE!


Dan