I'll admit, the last time I had heath insurance was over seven years ago when I was working for a major company. The premium, which was automatically deducted from my paycheck, was $350 a month and I never had even one claim. I never really paid much attention to health insurance, or the lack thereof since, until the issue became the “flavor of the day” topic on every television news program and internet cite 24/7, ad nauseam.

I watched Glenn Beck on Fox news, then switched to Keith Olberman on MSNBC,, I got whiplash. Four hours of CNN later, I began to get a terrible headache, and thought I was having a stroke. I felt a sudden chill in the air, and thought I was coming down with swine flu.

Watching all the medical programs didn't help, either. I also started to wonder why none of those injured, sick or dying patients on shows like E.R. and Hawthorne were ever asked if they had insurance and just who was paying for all those test administered by those diagnosticians on House? They don't need health insurance to receive treatment, so do we really need reform?

I had two very good girlfriends who were both diagnosed with cancer. One was a very successful C.P.A, whose health insurance policy fully covered every test, every treatment, every doctor's visit and every prescription. The other was a legal secretary whose employer refused to pay for any health insurance. MediCal, California's medical plan, paid for every test, every treatment, every doctor's visit and every prescription.

They both died within two years of being diagnosed.

Having heath insurance hadn't made any difference in the care or treatment of either of my two friends and the end result was the same, so why is there such a huge debate on both sides of an issue if it has very little actual difference in anyone's life? Life insurance does not guarantee life any more than health insurance guarantees health. We're being sold a bill of goods which is no more effective in preventing illness and death than the bogus ingredients in snake oil will cure grandma's gout.

Insurance is a funny thing to try and sell. It's the one product that you buy hoping you'll never use. I was sitting in traffic the other day listening to a life insurance ad on the radio. The salesman, in an ominous tone, says “You're driving on the freeway, when suddenly you're hit by a truck and you're dead. What will happen to your family?” The thought that went through my head was; “Don't care, I'm dead.”

The salesman went on to cite an entire list of “who will” and “what will” questions, which I responded the same way. “Don't care, dead.” However, the fear of disasters yet to come tactic is exactly what insurance salesmen use to terrify us into buying their product, whether we need it or not promising peace of mind and security with their slogans; “You're In Good Hands”, “Like a Good Neighbor”, and “So Simple A Caveman Can Do It.” Ok, forget the last one.

Not everyone needs heath insurance, but to hear our politicians and talk show hosts talk, and talk and TALK about the dire consequences to our country if we don't providing this product that some may never use, we not believe every man, woman and child MUST have insurance or we're all going to die. While everyone knows that they're going to die sooner or later, with or without health insurance, we have somehow come to believe it will be a great deal sooner unless we pass some kind of health care i.e. insurance, reform. It makes a great deal of sense that in order to sell a product that you hope you'll never need, is to create that need and make it so necessary that everyone wants it and will do whatever they can to get it.

Well, it worked for Harold Hill in the Music Man, didn't it?

It is truly amazing how healthy Americans were before all this talk of health insurance reform hit the fan. People would attend a town forum without risking getting a stroke from carrying heavy picket signs in ninety degree weather and screaming at the top of their lungs at town hall forums.

The best way to cure the ills of our health care system and regain a happy and healthy life is to pull the plug…. on the television set.

I'll admit, the last time I had heath insurance was over seven years ago when I was working for a major company. The premium, which was automatically deducted from my paycheck, was $350 a month and I never had even one claim. I never really paid much attention to health insurance, or the lack thereof since, until the issue became the “flavor of the day” topic on every television news program and internet cite 24/7, ad nauseam.

I watched Glenn Beck on Fox news, then switched to Keith Olberman on MSNBC,, I got whiplash. Four hours of CNN later, I began to get a terrible headache, and thought I was having a stroke. I felt a sudden chill in the air, and thought I was coming down with swine flu.

Watching all the medical programs didn't help, either. I also started to wonder why none of those injured, sick or dying patients on shows like E.R. and Hawthorne were ever asked if they had insurance and just who was paying for all those test administered by those diagnosticians on House? They don't need health insurance to receive treatment, so do we really need reform?

I had two very good girlfriends who were both diagnosed with cancer. One was a very successful C.P.A, whose health insurance policy fully covered every test, every treatment, every doctor's visit and every prescription. The other was a legal secretary whose employer refused to pay for any health insurance. MediCal, California's medical plan, paid for every test, every treatment, every doctor's visit and every prescription.

They both died within two years of being diagnosed.

Having heath insurance hadn't made any difference in the care or treatment of either of my two friends and the end result was the same, so why is there such a huge debate on both sides of an issue if it has very little actual difference in anyone's life? Life insurance does not guarantee life any more than health insurance guarantees health. We're being sold a bill of goods which is no more effective in preventing illness and death than the bogus ingredients in snake oil will cure grandma's gout.

Insurance is a funny thing to try and sell. It's the one product that you buy hoping you'll never use. I was sitting in traffic the other day listening to a life insurance ad on the radio. The salesman, in an ominous tone, says “You're driving on the freeway, when suddenly you're hit by a truck and you're dead. What will happen to your family?” The thought that went through my head was; “Don't care, I'm dead.”

The salesman went on to cite an entire list of “who will” and “what will” questions, which I responded the same way. “Don't care. Dead.” However, the fear of disasters yet to come tactic is exactly what insurance salesmen use to terrify us into buying their product, whether we need it or not promising peace of mind and security with their slogans; “You're In Good Hands”, “Like a Good Neighbor”, and “So Simple A Caveman Can Do It.” Ok, forget the last one.

Not everyone needs heath insurance, but to hear our politicians and talk show hosts talk, and talk and TALK about the dire consequences to our country if we don't providing this product that some may never use, we not believe every man, woman and child MUST have insurance or we're all going to die. While everyone knows that they're going to die sooner or later, with or without health insurance, we have somehow come to believe it will be a great deal sooner unless we pass some kind of health care i.e. insurance, reform. It makes a great deal of sense that in order to sell a product that you hope you'll never need, is to create that need and make it so necessary that everyone wants it and will do whatever they can to get it.

Well, it worked for Harold Hill in the Music Man, didn't it?

It is truly amazing how healthy Americans were before all this talk of health insurance reform hit the fan. People would attend a town forum without risking getting a stroke from carrying heavy picket signs in ninety degree weather and screaming at the top of their lungs at town hall forums.

The best way to cure the ills of our health care system and regain a happy and healthy life is to pull the plug

…. on the television set.