In so many ways Obamacare is the antithesis of the American way. I will refer to this massive health care bill as Obamacare, not the “Affordable” Care Act which is a misnomer. In no way is Obamacare the sliced bread that the majority of Americans with existing health insurance was seeking or prepared to buy. Although we like to complain about the cost of health insurance like the price of gas and groceries, we were not looking to make a major overhaul in our handpicked insurance policies. If we individually went to the insurance store to buy a new policy, we would tailor that plan to our family’s needs. Kicking the tires is how we choose what we need, like and can afford. What if we had to pay extra for the Cadillac our neighbor wanted to buy? What if all cars were the same size, make and model, and we each had to pay the same non-negotiable rate for this vehicle? A good health care reform bill on the other hand would have given us more shopping options such as opening up potential policies across state lines.

America is a country of people who have been given the beloved right of freedom of expression and choice. The forced across the board policy of a commercial product seems so out of order in our society. Call it a tax or call it a mandate, the increased cost to us is the same. A health care system was already in place that provided for the elderly, the poor and children. A major investigation into these existing government programs with the elimination of fraud and abuse would have been a better way to reform the system and conserve taxpayer money.

Non-elected wonks are now the authors of your health insurance policy. For example, the government has decreed that all insurance policies must include coverage for routine dental care for all children ages one to 19 years of age. You are now paying for kids to have their teeth cleaned for free even if your own children are all grown up and living on their own.

Do not think that you are protected or have any special say in the matter because you have Employer Based insurance. We just haven’t arrived at that section of the Obamacare bill yet. Remember, no one read the health care bill before it was passed, and millions of people have been shocked to find that their Individual Plans are now defunct. Because of Obamacare, it is now illegal in some states for Americans to negotiate new plans directly with their private insurance companies. They must go to the government website, lay bare their personal statistics and private health information in order to sign up for a government issued insurance plan. Without a doubt, the same requirements and restrictions placed on individual policies will be imposed on the employer based plans.

Some of us, present company definitely excluded, were complacent because President Obama told us that we could keep our health plans. Period. Now we are being told that our handpicked health care plans have been bad for us all along. After all, they don’t cover contraceptive devices and abortion procedures. Even if you’re a Grey Panther.

We should be flaming angry that this bill was passed by elected officials who did not read the policy and present us with the facts. Like it or not, the much maligned Congressional gridlock could have and should have prevented the enactment of this loss of freedom to direct and personalize our health care coverage.

November 5, 2013