During a sermon yesterday, my pastor talked about rights and obligations. As the current health care debate goes on, the concepts definitely come into play. Whatever happens will have an impact on small business owners in general and women business owners in particular, because we are still the caretakers.
I haven’t done enough research to be able to give a detailed analysis of what’s good or bad about the proposed plan. (And, I do like to research, rather than just give a knee-jerk reaction.) To be truthful, I don’t have health insurance, which worries me when I think about it. But I just can’t afford a plan that would make a difference. I can get coverage, and was in a plan that didn’t pay out when I submitted and ER bill and I later found out that the company was being sued all over the place. And that, was for over $350 a month.
Do I have a right to health insurance? A colleague once told me that he didn’t think health was a right. He neglected his own (overweight, etc.), but was fortunate enough to have good health insurance when his body did give up on him. I wonder if his attitude would be different if the same thing happened when he didn’t have health insurance. It’s hard to say health isn’t a right when you are critically ill.
Do I have an obligation to pay for other’s health insurance? Basically, I believe the answer is yes. Fundamentally, we are a collective of people. What happens to others in my neighborhood does affect me. Maybe not directly, but indirectly through access to care, or cost of care, or even the mentally ill resident who wanders around harmlessly, but loudly.
And, I have an obligation to myself, to do the best I can with what I know to remain healthy. So, I pay out-of-pocket for my meds, and continue to work on underlying factors that are causing some of my problems. That is also part of my obligation to the community, not to be a burden unless its absolutely necessary.
It may cost our small businesses funds to help pay for the insurance, but in the long run, won’t it be better for everyone? Aren’t we all Americans? Didn’t our founders risk everything, including their lives and fortunes, by signing the Declaration of Independence?
We’re smart people. Let’s figure this out. There is a way that we can honor the obligations we have to our fellow Americans, by helping out in times of need and taking care of ourselves and loved ones to the best of our ability.
