Obamacare - It's A Piece Of Cake

On the recent furore surrounding Obamacare; I'll try to summarise what I see with an analogy, where the people around the table are American citizens.

Obama's opponents see a group of 7 friends sitting at a table with a big cake they are about to share. They accuse Obama of saying that he's going to invite 4 other friends around to share the cake while at the same time promising that the 7 people's share of the cake won't be any smaller. Obama is saying that the USA is a country of 10 or 11 people eating a cake and only 8 or 9 are paying for it, and thus he wants the other 2 to chip in.

Both sides seem to be lacking two vital things; 1) The solution of making the cake bigger, and how to do it. And 2) The fact that there is more than one type of cake, and by inviting friends over you might have to change from a cake you like to one you don't. Moreover, it would be more fruitful for some of the critics (on both sides) if they learned the difference between health care and health insurance*.

One thing's for sure - every time I look at health care systems in America, I think of the National Health Service in the UK and count my blessings.

* Those who had a healthcare plan and voted for Obama again probably thought those who were the most recent to sign up would get whichever leftover options were available.

** Photo courtesy of www.nydailynews.com