By Jessica Newman
The U.S. is the only industrialized country in the world that does not provide universal health care to its citizens. There are more than 40 million uninsured people in this country, and insurance companies have quadrupled their profits since 2002, according to the Harper’s Index.
But whether you believe we should keep our corporate system, have a public option, switch to a single-payer system or some other approach, we can all agree that health care is a very important issue. In the end, the right to health is a human right, and it should be available to everyone, like education and protection by police and fire departments.
Unfortunately, the mainstream media have done a less than stellar job of informing the public on the issue of health care. There has been little to no legitimate coverage on the specifics of the proposed policies from any side, be it Obama’s public option or any other options posed in Congress. There has been no mainstream coverage of single-payer health care or similar universal options.
More than 7 out of 10 people say the media have done either a poor or only fair job explaining the details of the various proposals, according to the latest News Interest Index performed by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press.
News organizations have been covering the health care debate like a presidential election. It’s the tit-for-tat bickering and sensationalism that have been consuming most of the discussion. The media have presented two sides to the story: Obama’s proposal and the Republican counter.
We hope to give a different perspective in our health care spread from what you’ve seen anywhere else. We aren’t trying to give you the “real” healthcare plans proposed. We start with a critical look at what this health care debate really comes down to: What do we value most? Human life and health, or profit and corporate control? We’ve also included a look at what some other countries around the world are doing and how their universal health care systems are working for them, as well as an expose on Solantic, North Florida’s most prosperous health care provider and opponent to reform, and a personal account of a UF student’s experience with a chronic illness and dealing with insurance companies.
Tags: healthcare