Never thought I would read the following in a news report: Democrats are becoming less tolerant of dissent from their supposed allies in the health care industry. But there it was, in a Los Angeles Times story picked up by Charlottes daily paper.
The story was about the strong health care reform legislation approved by the Senate Health Committee yesterday, which would provide nearly every American with insurance regardless of income or medical condition ... create a government program to compete directly with private insurers ... [and] place new requirements on many employers to provide coverage.
Apart from concern over how the bill would impact small businesses (something that can hopefully be worked out to small business owners' satisfaction), it is very encouraging that the momentum in Congress is on the side of reforming health care delivery in America and making it into a more humane system. Particularly if Congress adopts the House of Representatives idea of largely paying for the program with a surtax on wealthy Americans. What it will take to truly revamp health care is, incredibly enough, exactly what has been happening: Democrats telling insurance companies, AKA the tick thats sucking America dry, to take a hike. Kudos to Sen. Kay Hagan of North Carolina, who voted for the bill in committee yesterday.