What's the real issue?

The real issue preventing us from moving forward with health care reform in this country is not politics, advanced directives, end of life care, public plans or any of the other myriad of reasons you hear in the news.

Those are all just convenient distractions that allow us to ignore the real issue. The real issue preventing us from moving forward with health care reform is us. You and me. 'Us' you say? How could we possibly be the problem? Simple because fundamentally we are selfish. Our own human nature and society have ingrained in us a "me first" mentality. We may say we care about others and are committed to helping the poor and down-trodden, and many of us do many great things to help those less fortunate than ourselves. But (and this is a BIG BUT) the harsh reality is, we largely only care about other people to the extent that helping them will not require us to either pay more or give up something we feel we have earned or deserve. In other words helping other people is great as long as we don't have to sacrifice too much.

The notion that we can insure the approximately 46 million uninsured Americans without each and every one of us either paying more, or giving up something, is ludicrous.

So there is the real issue. Are you willing to pay more so someone without the ability to pay can go to the doctor? Are you willing to forgo an elective procedure so your neighbor can receive preventative care?

What are you willing to give up, or pay more for, so 46 million Americans can have health insurance?