HealthyConcerns.com

Good source for active discussions around health care reform

If you're looking for a blog where some active health care debates are ongoing, and where both sides of the debate seem to be engaging in (mostly) intelligent and (mostly) civil discussion, I recommend Joe Paduda's Managed Care Matters blog. 

He's dealing with everything from the "Swiftboating" of a respected bio-ethicist, to how we're watching health care reform die a death of 1,000 cuts, to the Top 10 Myths about health care reform (and there are some myths on both sides of the issue, i should add).

And, of course, if you want to follow the wonky arguments on both sides of the issue in another ongoing way, I'd recommend following the blog carnival entitled Health Wonk Review. This week it's over on the Health Business Blog. Next week it will be on the Lucidicus Projecy Blog (whose subtitle might give away its own particular bent, "In Defense of Individual Rights and Capitalism in Medicine").

I may not agree with every thing that every blogger or commenter is saying, but for the most part you may be better off surfing the health wonk blogs than the political blogs if you want civil, fact-based debate on the issue of health care reform.

BlogHer, health care and the White House

This is a bit of a linky post, mostly because I am proud of and want to point to the work BlogHer is doing reporting on and driving conversations about health care reform.

1. President Obama's senior advisor, Valerie Jarrett, attends BlogHer '09 and conducts an intimate round-table discussion with about 20 bloggers, all of whom have a health care story to tell. Denise Tanton live-blogged it here.

2. The White House asked us to collect the comments of our community about the health care plan...our suggestions, our concerns. We asked here, among other places. It's our reputation for civil discourse, even about controversial subjects, that makes a difference, I think.

3. We then launched a cooperative project with the Sunlight Foundation to get beyond shouting and mudslinging and have a real, rational, civil conversation re: health care reform. We announced that project here.

4. One of the women who joined Ms. Jarrett for lunch at BlogHer was Loralee. She is a registered Republican from Utah. Besides generally loving her, I had read quite a bit about her health coverage woes. How her high-risk pregnancy was deemed a pre-existing condition (although she wasn't pregnant when she got the insurance coverage) and how she and her family are losing a LOT because of the ensuing cancellation of her insurance and the bills they now must pay. Loralee told her story to Ms. Jarrett, and also told her how her staunchly conservative husband still was against reform. Ms. Jarrett offered to have a call with the husband the following Monday. And they did have that call. Loralee blogs about it here.

5. And in her very first blog post ever, Valerie Jarrett links to Loralee's post.

I work really hard. In some ways it has not been good for my health. Long hours, not enough exercise, food grabbed on the run, no sleep, the stress of running a business and being responsible for the livelihoods of over 30 people who are FTEs alone (and to whom we offer health care, I should add.)

But I love my company, and I love all of the ripples from what we do. This being one of my favorite ripples in a long long time.

Now go to one of those first three posts above and leave your comment about how you'd reform our health care system: If not now? When.

Quick handy links to do your health care reform fact-checking

My BlogSis, Cristina from Working Mom, Democrat, Patriot, has a useful resource post that provides links to sources debunking some of the current appalling myths re: health care reform.

I don't know what bothers me more:

-Scaring people needlessly

-The hypocrisy of changing positions and opinions simply to prevent looking like you support someone of the opposite political party

-Discouraging people from doing things like setting up a living will

-The abdication of duty of much of the media, particularly covering the fact that there are shouting matches at town halls...instead of covering the substance of what they are shouting about!

-And I'm just about done caring about some new spirit of bi-partisanship. See, the whole "bi" thing requires that it be a two-way street, that there be compromise on both sides. Not seeing that happen. So, what's the point exactly?

Come to think of it, here's another link to a post my sister wrote bringing up the fundamental contradiction of saying:

a. a public health care option will be a horrible, killing bureaucracy

but

b. it will crush private insurers as people flock to it

I'm a small business owner. We give our employees health care. I've also been self-employed and paid for my own. I've also been the employee of big companies that provided health care and small businesses that did not.

And none of the stuff we are hearing about this reform effort seems to be really relevant, really important, really what we need to be hearing.

Is it just me? Do you feel the same? And is it a function of political leanings? Would love to hear your views out there.