A is for 'Are you kidding?'

I've decided to borrow the alphabet memoir idea from Charlotte (sort of, since this isn't a memoir), starting with the letter A.

I was driving home from a playdate yesterday when I spotted an older man (at least 60) holding up a sign that said, 'Obamacare is unconstitutional.'

Well, duh, Mr. Medicare, any policy that has not yet been passed into law is technincally unconstitutional. Although as Lawyer Mom pointed out this is not technically true. . .

But I bet you wouldn't like it too much if the tables were turned and the funds dried up on your socialist health care.

So, let me just say that I'm not a lawyer, nor am I particularly informed about the current health care debate. In fact, I'm one of those lucky people who has decent, albeit expensive, health insurance so I'm naturally skeptic of anything that will benefit others that I have to pay for. But I'm also a Democrat and I watched President Obama in a AARP Town Hall meeting and a couple of things he said made a lot of sense:

1. US health care costs are way more expensive than just about anywhere else, including where medical insurance is 'socialized' and supplemented with taxes. Hmmn.

2. US health care costs are going up at such a dramatic rate that pretty soon no one will be able to afford insurance and we'll all be in the same boat.

3. Uninsured people who can't afford to take care of themselves cost us all money when they show up in the emergency room.

*Note that although countries where there is only socialized medicine tend to have rotten health care, countries that have tried a hybrid of public and private (like Germany) offer very high quality health care. It's expensive for individuals and companies but the overall debt is much lower and in many cases the quality of care higher. In fact, sometimes a doctor will even take a culture or try alternative medicine before prescribing antibiotics instead of prescribing them for every cold. But if you need it, you get the full enchilada with x-rays, medicine, follow ups and time off from work. And for privately insured people, little or no waiting.

Clearly something needs to be done in the US to combat rising health care costs and at least the President is trying to tackle the issue while it can still be tackled gracefully, which we should have done with alternative energy a long time ago. I'm not sure he's going far enough if we really want to cut costs, however. For example, I'd like to see premiums based on overall health for one's age group, so if a 20 year old is an obese smoker they should pay more than a fit 20 year old marathon runner who eats lots of leafy greens.

I also wonder when someone will finally address the issue of triaged care. In other words, do you spend your money saving a child or keeping a 90 year old smoker on a breathing machine for two years?

I'm just saying.

But triage is a dirty word so I guess we'll just keep pretending that we can afford to give every single person unlimited health care without making anyone take responsibility for their health.

And anyone who says otherwise clearly wants to set up a bunch of death camps to turn old people into pies.

PS I'm looking forward to a 'death panel' skit from Tina Fey.