"universal health coverage," the inside story...

Last year, Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney announced a plan for "universal health coverage" which really means that citizens of that state are required, by law, to have minimum health insurance coverage, equivalent to liability on auto insurance. California governor Schwarzenegger recently followed suit proposing his own version of the Massachusetts plan. Both of these plans place undue hardship on those who can least afford it. Three years ago, I was declined for coverage by Blue Cross because of a "pre-existing condition" which was given as "perimenopause;' a friend was declined coverage because he went to the doctor three times in two years for the removal of ear wax. This is obscene; this is ludicrous; this must be stopped, but only if we speak out.

The president's plan allows for tax deductions for health insurance which don't apply to nearly two-thirds of those who would be required to take health insurance on their own. It's time that this president, and Congress, tell the truth, and come up with a real time solution to the growing health care crisis in this country. We not only need an increase in minimum wage, but a LIVEABLE wage in this country, and not mandated, unaffordable health insurance coverage which benefits HMO's and large pharmaceuticals, but guaranteed state, and employer-paid health coverage. The folks who should be getting tax benefits for providing coverage are the employers, and not the individual taxpayers who can barely afford to feed their children, or their cars.

Speak truth to power; don't confuse second-rate fibs for anything less. Demand a side order of action, along with the main course of accountability, from those we elected to represent us in Congress, as well as those who throw their hat in the ring in the presidential race.