I have heard some really weird statements arise during the recent debates on health care reform. One of the funniest is the people arguing that they want to be able to choose their health care plan. If you are fortunate enough to work for yourself and have a lot of money, you are one of the few who can make that choice.

If you work for a large company that provides benefits, you have an illusion of choice. Large companies negotiate with Insurance providers for the best rates. Some companies change provides every few years in order to garner those savings. Employees seldom have any real say in what is provided and the costs. If you have ever wondered why you are suddenly paying more in premiums, or why services have changed, or why co-pays are suddenly different, this is usually the answer.

Big business wants to get the best deal, Insurance providers want to save the most money…you, the employee are caught in the middle and have very little to say in the matter unless you decide to change jobs. I have worked for companies where the doctor I had used for years was no longer on a provider list because the insurance program had changed. I have seen people have to wait for surgery because their doctor is having to argue with the insurance companies over whether the surgery is needed or not. In one instance, a friend with a long family history of cancer was told that surgery to remove a football sized tumor wasn’t needed because it did not ‘appear’ to be malignant. Sitting on top of a timebomb, my friend was fortunate to have a physician that kept pushing and pushing until the insurance company gave in. This is NOT an uncommon scenario.

Now that the health care debate is really going, all of a sudden, insurance companies are coming up with better rates, better options, and better coverage. Why haven’t they done it before now? Can they be trusted to police themselves? How can you be sure that it will not be GREED that stands between you/your family and the type of health care that you need.

If these companies were capable of policing themselves, why haven’t they already done it. They’ve had decades to do exactly that. Now, they expect us to believe that they can set aside corporate greed in order to best serve Americans?

Give me credit for a bit more sense than that. If it were consistent through human nature to ‘do the right thing’, we would not need police officers, we would not need laws, we would not need attorneys, and we would not need comprehensive health care reform. Unfortunately, GREED drives so much of our economy that the decisions made are often based on what is best for the Company, not what is best for the People.

There are plenty of other areas of commerce where GREED can continue to drive things, we do not need it in something as basic as health care. Providing health care for all is an investment in our future. Can’t we, as one of the richest nations in the world, afford to see that everyone has basic medical care? We send supplies and people all over the world to help other people, can’t we set aside fear and prejudice to help our own? Isn’t it the right thing to do?

Isn’t it the right thing to do to promote and encourage health rather than ‘fight disease’? Is it better to prevent a war than it is to fight in one?