Will Obamacare succeed where term limits failed?

[Seamus Fermanagh]

If I am honest, the way your healthcare system is set-up, it truly scares me, Seamus. Whilst I might make little pokes here and there, if I actually imagine being under system tomorrow, I would be mortified. Perhaps to you who grew up with the system, it is different, but for me, the actual concept of if I get ill, knowing I would be able to have treatment is a complete load off my mind. Knowing if I get some disease, cancer or involved in a traffic accident, I would be cared for and stand a good chance of getting better.

You say "All is fine" for the age group, but perhaps I have been unlucky, but I know this is false and under reported. Everyone of my cousins have had medical emergencies, about half of my siblings too. All different kinds due to various reasons. I got a cousin who was really into sports, working out everyday, really watching their diet, even in Oxford Rowing team, ended up with a heart attack and rushing to hospital where they discovered he had a heart defect. I had another cousin (his brother) who was a gym instructor turned police officer , who had pancreatitis and had to be rushed to hospital. Another cousin had a very severe allergic reaction who was in hospital for a week. I got a brother who had kidney failure and is terminally ill (hit the point where transplant is no longer an option), only reason he is still alive is because he is still having some treatments which only there to prolong his life. I could go on with this, by even bringing in older generations and the c-word.

Just imagining my family in the American system.. they would all be bankrupt and perhaps dead. Their families and children without fathers simply because of the system in place.

I read all these stories including how people try to raise money to pay for medical bills, most likely going to end up in the afterlife they believe in, hearing how people are suffering from issues, saying they won't seek a doctor because of the costs that might be involved, it is truly insane from my point of view. How can a system be so barbaric which lets the populace suffer and die ?

You might see this as 'Liberal Whining' or similar, but I am being honest, I am glad to have my healthcare system. I am happy for the money to come out of my taxes. I am happy to know when those worse times come, there is someone there to hold my hand and attempt to make things better for me.

The choice to opt out of health coverage would be VERY scary for me as well. To my mind it is one of the first benefits of employment that you procure for yourself and your family. Life insurance and retirement planning following immediately after.

You are correct in that, having grown up under our needlessly byzantine system, I am not inherently terrified that I will fall ill during that one or two months between jobs with benefits or other small gap. On the other hand, those folks who blithely assume that "noting can happen to me" and who therefore don't secure any health coverage, life insurance, or the like...well, the technical term for them would be "fools."