This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2013, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
I have friends who are conservative and friends who are liberal. I think that I have narrowed all opinions about the new health care law down to five categories:
1. I'm uninsured and health care is my right.
2. I'm insured and health care is everyone's right.
3. I'm uninsured but hope that I might get coverage.
4. I'm insured and privileged as such. Others die poor, I don't care much.
5. I'm privileged but won't pay any of the money. Privilege that cries poverty, the worst kind of phony.
This last category of my fellow Republicans is the most worrisome. I have friends currently not insured or who are underinsured. They are mad because they are being "forced" to buy an insurance plan. They know they are running the risk of having a critical medical condition. But, they have brushed it off by saying, "I have planned with my accountant ... protected my assets ... sheltered my investments. If I get critically ill I can show that I don't own anything, so they won't charge me."
Is it a privilege or a right to make someone else pay for your illness? Please, get insured and stop impacting my rates.
Dallas Wall
Provo