Tax-supported health care is not "socialism." The new health care law is no more "socialistic" than the interstate highways that continue to be built with public funds by private contractors. Health care in the United States is provided by private, not public, entities. The Interstate Highway System was created to serve the primary purpose of highways — to transport millions of people. The Affordable Health Care Law serves the purpose of making health care accessible so sick people receive treatment. Before the interstates, we had highways but no "system" that clearly linked parts of the nation with other parts. The same thing happened to health care. It was migrating away from being a "system." The steps taken by Congress and the administration were dictated by the need to redirect health care into a better system, not by "liberals" blindly following ideas. Do people realize that some politicians are trying to repeal this law? In Pennsylvania, Attorney General Tom Corbett has spent tax money, not to improve health care but to have the courts stop the law because it requires people to insure their health just as they now insure their cars. Corbett did not sue to stop car insurance. Why oppose a law that makes it possible for people to see caregivers as soon as they are sick, rather than having to wait until they are seriously ill? Delayed health care is tremendously wasteful of both lives and money. A healthier population benefits us all. Do the Tom Corbetts of the nation have an alternative plan? No. They only talk about the free market that will somehow, someday "solve" the problem. It didn't solve the interstate highway problem, however. And, free markets alone do not address the improvement of the health care system either. For that reason, people of moderate income have to look to their own interests, not be swept along by the rhetoric of those whose health will never be threatened by financial issues.
