This is a good thing!

This week President Obama signed into law a major healthcare reform bill. That is fantastic! I mean it. There are a lot of wrinkles that need to be worked out and it'll take a few years for everything to take effect but overall I am extremely happy about the change.

Now for all those naysayers who call this law "socialized medicine," well they need to quit watching Fox News and listening to talk radio because it isn't even close to that. It's more like Hawaii's healthcare plan or the Mitt Romney inspired healthcare plan in Massachusetts.

At any rate let me show you why I am so happy:

• For starters over 30 million people who did not have health insurance for a variety of reasons will now be able to receive benefits. If they can't afford it there will be programs in place to help them. This makes me feel all warm inside. What is good for my fellow Americans and human beings (particularly those in need) is good for me. The Christian and Mormon in me rejoices in this notion.
  

• No more pre-existing conditions! This one is huge since Heidi had cancer a few years ago. When we moved to Texas we tried to sign both of us up for private pay insurance. Yeah, right. Even though Heidi had been cancer free for a couple years she was denied any coverage. It cost us over $600 a month to pay COBRA for Heidi and we did that for several months because if we let her insurance lapse we'd be screwed. Were probably still paying that one off.

• Another biggie is no more lifetime limits on benefits. Did you know that up until now every man, woman, and child in America was limited to a lifetime limit of one million dollars in benefits? At 25 Heidi had burned through half of her lifetime allotment. Now that this has been resolved were ready for Heidi to get cancer again!

• While were on Heidi it is no longer legal to charge Heidi more for her benefits for no other reason than the fact that she is a woman! What a load of crap that one was but it is nice knowing that it will soon be a thing of the past
  

• Sure this one is a ways down the road but I now have a son. No matter what direction his life takes he can now stay on my insurance until he is 26. Seeing as how Heidi had cancer before that age this is a real scare.

• By 2014 everyone that can afford health insurance will be required to purchase health insurance. If they can't afford it there will be programs in place to assist them. I'm happy about this one because I have seen a number of people in my life not buy health insurance but intentionally get pregnant and have Medicaid pay for the pregnancy. This makes my blood boil. For crying out loud, everyone is required to have auto insurance! I've heard the attorney generals of 12 states (all of them are Republican - gee, that's a real surprise) are suing the federal government over this issue. I don't get it. Don't they want their citizens to have health insurance? Having insurance is a good thing. Do you know how much the uninsured cost state and local government hospitals?

And those are a few of the reasons why I am happy about this bill. I do wish they put more limits on malpractice suits and I would have liked a public option but you can't win them all. Sure, the fearmongers have been working overtime to scare people into thinking this is a bad idea but deep down everyone knows they are full of crap. I hate how healthcare reform - a good thing - has been depicted as a bad thing for political or monetary reasons or because somebody scared them into thinking it was bad.

Just look at the final vote, not a single Republican voted for it. Even a few dozen Democrats voted against it but not one single Republican thought maybe this was a good idea? Come on! Bunch of sheep. But in the end some of my worries have been eased and that makes me happy.