Nicoma Park, OK

Let me state my first disclaimer, I am not smart enough to have the answers to health care reform and neither are you. In fact, I am wondering who has the smarts. Whatever comes out of Washington it will be imperfect as all major changes are. I know the American public has lost faith on a grand scale that D.C. can govern wars, foreighn afiiars, the budget, or here is where you throw in the kitchen sink. Second disclaimer, I am an unabashed and unapologetic liberal, and I also don't think conservative is a curse word. In fact the only problem with labels is they are usually employed as a personal attack and I refuse to be shoe horned into it. Third disclaimer, I consider myself flexible. I may be a liberal but I believe in tort reform as a part of solving this puzzle. Fourth disclaimer, if you don't think the system is broken, then do you feel that the cost that 15 years ago was $900 million has risen to $2.5 trillion with no end in site is acceptable? No more disclaimers, get to the point!

I have experienced the health care system up close and personal. As a $500,000 cancer survivor who went to MD Anderson and got great care, I can see how great medicine comes at a cost. I was also lucky enough to have the ability to put out about $30,000 of my own money in a year. For the wealthy, health care is just fine, thank you. I have had Doctors who were into the science and discovery and felt that is more important than an extra 5000 square feet on their Taj Mahal to ego. FYI, I still want choice in a new health care system, so hold off on your socialist tags. Now the next paragraph is about America and freedom.

This is really the point. I have been in real estate for 20 years, I have been with a franchise for 17 years of that, and I have a Realtor plan for health care through Blue Cross. Recently I was hit by that periodic disease, wonderlust. I wanted to explore options into a new business model. These included starting my own company, or going with a small but highly technical and internet based local group. Here is my rant, I can't leave. I am an indentured servant to my franchise because of health care. Now that I have had cancer, I can't lose or change any part of my current coverage, because to start over is a really big obstical in a pre-existing condition that would either keep me from getting coverage or cost a fortune. Since I am in an opt in program, I have to go to another large company that has the same program through our state association. If I start my own company, I have to wait 45 days to get on the program which means I lose my current coverage so that's out, and the small company can only apply once a year starting in April but not taking effect until June 1st 2010.

I could go on, but let me tell you from personal experience, this is NOT RIGHT. One of the things that makes America great is freedoms like crossing state lines without an identity card, or being able to switch from a dead end industry to a growing industry, like maybe going from assembling cars to assembling wind turbines for example. I have owned a retail business in a previous life, and all I ask is to not restrict my ability to be an entrepreneur. Yes I do still have choice, but for someone less than eight months from my last cancer treatment, you really want to call that a choice, not to have health care? All I ask of our elected officials is that while you are taking money from lobbyist representing insurance, AARP, trial lawyers, pharmaceutical companies, hospitals, and again thow in the kitchen sink, please stop acting like heroin addicts getting free heroin, and think about what makes America great. Also remember that besides the rsing cost, we are a world leader in infant mortality among other horror stories, and please do the right thing to make it better. Also remember middle class people like me, working our buns off, paying our taxes, and who contimue to vote in hope that the system can still work.

And all I ask is to remember my little piece of the American dream, which is to be my own boss. Right now, I am a prisoner of a broken American health care system.