FUD

Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt. The three allies of the entrenched, the vested interests, when they know that they are in the wrong, and on the losing side. It frankly sickens me to see the amount of FUD being spread in the health care reform debate.

The thing that's really gotten to me is the "death panels" rubbish. Leaving aside for a moment the fact that the legislation contains no provision for anything even remotely resembling such a concept, and the fact that any politician sponsoring any legislation which DID contain such a concept would be exceedingly lucky to remain alive, never mind in office, this arrant nonsense ignores the fact that such panels already exist in the US healthcare "system", and nowhere else in the entire civilised world. They're there. They're the committees that deny you coverage because of pre-existing conditions. They're the committees that drop your coverage because you got sick and now it's too expensive to cover you. They're the committees that set your deductibles so high that you have to bankrupt yourself, leading them to be able to drop your coverage.

Every time your insurance company finds a way to deny coverage, that's the death panel at work. They're faceless bureaucrats, and we can't even vote out the people who appointed them to signify our displeasure.

President Obama's plans actually abolish these death panels.

Can you imagine the outcry if any other insurance type were allowed to refuse to pay out when needed? We buy insurance as a hedge against the bad times. We pay for car insurance because otherwise repairs would bankrupt us; what the health insurance industry does is analogous to a car insurance company saying "we'll cover you, as long as you don't actually get into any accidents or have anything happen that would force us to pay out".

So please, everybody, look at the facts of the matter. Look at the legislation which is being debated, look at what is happening right now, and ignore the pundits, commentators and talking heads. You have your own mind, and you deserve better than to have somebody on the radio make it up for you. You don't have to agree with me; you don't have to agree with anyone. Just please, do your own thinking. Don't fall prey to the FUD.