Saturday, January 24, 2015

Baa! Baa! Baa!American Health Care Sheep

We’re poor little lambs who’ve last our way, Baa!Baa! Baa!

We’re little black sheep who’ve gone astray, Baa-aa-aa!


Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936), Gentleman-Rankers


Why do Americans resist ObamaCare?

Not all of us do, of course. According to the latest polls, 40% approve of the ACA. Ten million will soon be in health exchange plans. You’re covered if you’re under 26 and under your parents’ plans. You can’t be excluded from health plans if you have a pre-existing illness. And if you’ve lost your economic way, and you’ve somehow gone astray, you’ll be protected by being provided with affordable health insurance.

So why resist federal beneficence?

It’s a long and tangled tale which I shall not recite again.

But basically, Americans don't like being treated like sheep. They don't have the sameness of sheep. They don't consider themselves as homogeneous parts of a common herd. They don’t like being thought of as black sheep gone astray. They don’t wish to be culled out of a herd by the IRS, when they choose not to have a health plan. They don’t enjoy being stripped of health benefits when they work more than 29 hours a week. They don't welcome electronc medical records announeing their health status to others, and their privacy being invaded.

They don’t appreciate having the wool pulled over their eyes when they lose their doctors and health plans after told otherwise. They resent higher premiums and deductibles when while being promised$2500 lower premiums per family. They bristle when treated called "stupid" before the law was passed.

They feel they are intelligent, self-sufficient, and capable of making their own decisions. They are not lambs who have lost their way, or who think only of sucking from the federal treasury, or who simply wag their tails in response to commands from their shepherd.

Some fear their shepherd may be a lion in disguise.

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