All this talk of triggers as the "safe" compromise that'll get the Nelson's and Snowe's on board in the Senate for a filibuster-proof majority has me scratching my head.
As someone who was recently unemployed for nearly a year, and for whom most of that time was spent uninsured and living with the daily fear of some catastrophic injury or sickness that would send me spiraling into bankruptcy for the rest of my life, I can not understand the dialogue in DC.
Help me out here.
When 14,000 people are losing their health insurance every day.
When 50 million Americans have no health insurance.
When millions of "covered" American are forking out thousands of dollars for things their health insurance deems uninsurable.
When 80+% of bankruptcies are due to medical expenses.
When we spend vastly more than any other country on health care and yet leave tens of millions without any care.
All I can ask is...
Just what is the trigger we're waiting for?
What kind of "trigger" would we like to see?
Is it when 100 million Americans are without health insurance?
Is it when 25,000 Americans are losing their health insurance every day?
Is it when healthcare companies' profits cross a threshold of $50 billion/year? $100 billion?
Is it when H1N1 sweeps the nation like a California wildfire, tearing through underserved communities at an alarming rate?
Just what is the trigger? At what point do we deserve a choice in our healthcare?
And hasn't the trigger already been pulled long ago?