On June 28 John Roberts Jr., chief justice of the United States Supreme Court, did something many of us thought would never happen again in our great country. He put the good of American citizens ahead of politics. Roberts is a highly respected, conservative Republican and he cast the deciding vote to uphold the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare).
As Americans, we should all follow Robert's moral example. It's time to put politics aside and look at the health care law factually - not politically. No more sound bites, rhetoric, word spinning and half-truths. We have to ignore our political candidates on this issue - they are the problem. We can't rely on blogs or cable news for accurate non-political health care information and our health is too important to get lost in the politics of talking heads. The discussion should be about human life and health - not votes or political donations.
We owe it to ourselves to do the work and get educated. Start with the websites of the American Medical Association, AARP and the League of Women Voters. You can follow other good links from there. Also check out the website of the Massachusetts Health Link program. It was the model for Obamacare. If you do your research, you will find that the plan is not perfect but it's a pretty good idea.
I totally agree with the CEO of the Cleveland Clinic, Dr. Toby Cosgrove, when he told newsnet5 in Cleveland "We couldn't continue the way we were..." and "I think we're not going to see major changes in this law. I would doubt it gets repealed. But we'll see amendments (to the law) go on for five years or longer as we continue to evolve toward a new health care delivery system." I also agree with Scott Cantley, president of Memorial Health System, when he told WTAP that it's time to move forward and implement the law.
Jim Rapp
Lowell
