Healthcare and Guns

In South Dakota, state legislators introduced a bill requiring people over the age of 21 to purchase a gun. It was a poke at the new healthcare law. The bill’s sponsor, Republican State Representative Hal Wick, said, “Do I or the other cosponsors believe that the State of South Dakota can require citizens to buy firearms? Of course not,” he said. “But at the same time, we do not believe the federal government can order every citizen to buy health insurance.”

OK, so introducing this ridiculous piece of legislation was to prove a point. Does it really though?

vs.

Guns – used to kill
Healthcare – used to prevent/cure illness

Guns – may not have to be used during a person’s life
Healthcare – will be used at least once in a person’s life

All this has proven is that the state representatives have way too much time on their hands.

I’m writing this post and am sick with the flu. I went to the doctor today, and she prescribed antibiotics. She wanted to treat me as if I had pneumonia because of the symptoms I’m having. She did not want it to escalate. She also told me to start using my steroid inhaler before my asthma gets worse.

I am very blessed to have insurance. What if I didn’t, had to wait, and developed pneumonia? Or had an asthma attack? I’d probably go to the ER. What if I can’t pay? That’s OK, they’ll see me anyway. What if I end up hospitalized because the pneumonia was that bad – from not being able to go to the doctor earlier? I’ll run up this huge bill in the tens of thousands of dollars. If I can’t pay it, I’ll just discharge it through bankruptcy.

This is how it is now. The healthcare law is an attempt at fixing our broken system. It’s far from perfect, which is why we should work on it and not scrap it all together. People are already benefitting from this law. Children will not be denied insurance due to pre-existing conditions and young people can stay on their parents’ insurance until they’re 26.

Instead of writing up legislation to point out what’s wrong with a law, how about thinking of things to make the existing law better? Maybe South Dakota is on to something, though. If people get sick and can’t get or afford insurance, they can kill themselves with the gun that was shoved down their throats.