Health Care and Firearms?

When “Obama Care” was voted into law, I found myself explaining to a friend how it would affect her. My explanation, unintentionally,  clarified my own beliefs about healthcare and the healthcare law and how it relates to special interest groups here in the US. See, the law not only provides no separation between “health care” and “medical insurance“, but, arguably solidifies their interchangeability.

Here’s how I imagine it played out:

  • Liberal government decided that “healthcare is a basic human right” and decided to create legislation that makes healthcare available to everyone.
  • Conservative government, pushed by their health-insurance-company-campaign-financing pushed back on the legislation and forced the bill to provide another insurance option, instead of just free health care, thereby merging the two terms.

We have come to a point in American history where the health insurance companies need to create this merger or face the possibility of being lost forever in the ever-growing antiquated business model bucket like newspapers and land-line telephone services.  This is just “good business”, and we-the-people are just as at fault as the politicians given that their power was awarded by our votes.

Has it occurred to anyone else that the most recent “gun control” push is the result of a closed-door health-care conversation?

Many have argued that the conversation we should be having is one about “mental illness”, but that would suggest a conversation about healthcare, which would inevitably lead to a conversation about the relationship (or lack thereof) of “health care” and “medical insurance”.

Maybe we will enter another assault weapon ban, maybe we won’t.  But the simple fact is, it doesn’t matter.  Crime didn’t come to a screeching halt the last time we banned all that stuff, and it won’t again this time.

But that isn’t the point.

Beyond all of the NRA, high-capacity-magazine, assault-rifle, baby-killing demonstrations, picketing and screaming no one will be able to hear the soft giggles of the health insurance companies as they quietly push their wheelbarrows full of cash to the bank.