As I've written before on this blog, I have opposed the health insurance mandate in the health care bill because I feel it removes our freedom of choice to spend our health care dollars on alternative medicine.

While I've had some say to me, "but you can get some health insurance plans that cover alternative health," these plans will never cover more esoteric things such as Reiki or other types of energy healing. (Never mind that I don't want the health insurance industry to start encroaching on my Reiki business.)

The health care bill as it stands will mean that in 2014, all Americans will have to buy health insurance, whether they want it or not. Tax credits aren't going to help you each month when you have a hefty bill to pay. From one analyst's calculations, the anticipated cost for an individual will be around $15,000/year, and you will not be able to get a catastrophic policy anymore:

I see a lot of well-meaning people saying "Health care is a right!!" as their rallying cry. Yet, I don't think they've stopped to really think about what they are saying. Health care can't actually be a right, because forcing someone else to give you a service against their will is called slavery, and you'd be taking someone else's rights away in the process.

Consider. I know how to do Reiki healing. It can help a lot of people. You could say "Reiki healing is a right!" and then try to force me to Reiki everyone I possibly could, non-stop, 24-hours per day. Perhaps I do help people in that fashion...but is that right, to lock up Reiki healers in a room and force them to heal until they are exhausted?

I hope Andy Swan doesn't mind that I am copying his entire blog post on the subject verbatim, because he explains it very logically:

The United States Senate just pushed through a vote on the health care bill. I am frankly quite upset about it. I simply do not want to be forced to buy conventional medical insurance when a) I honestly can't afford it right now b) what disposable income I do spend on health care, I prefer to spend on alternative health care.

I am one of those people constantly mentioned in the health care debate - one of the uninsured. I did apply for coverage some years ago but was denied due to my pre-existing condition, chronic fatigue syndrome. However, I have come to prefer paying out of pocket for my health care. And most of my health care is alternative in nature.

When I first had chronic fatigue syndrome, I went from doctor to doctor. None could help me, and some doubted whether I was really sick because the illness wasn't very well-known at the time. (I got it over 20 years ago!)

I did not watch Obama's health care speech in part because I did not expect him to say anything truly revolutionary on the subject of health care. Our current health care debate in America is an emotional one, but I feel our approach is all wrong. Trying to funnel more people into a broken health insurance system is not the way to go. Even adding a public option will still maintain the status quo of people buying "insurance" just to get their basic health needs taken care of.

Health insurance, in my mind, should never be about health maintenance. It should only be applied to those catastrophic events that we would otherwise not be able to pay for: a broken leg, a serious disease.

I just saw Michael Moore's health care documentary Sicko on DVD. I, like 50 million other Americans, do not have health insurance. I was turned down due to my pre-existing condition, chronic fatigue syndrome. Never mind that I don't even go to Western doctors to treat that anymore and I'd only use the insurance for catastrophic problems; I'm uninsurable.

I do get concerned sometimes about something drastic happening, but judging from the film, even if you do have health insurance, the insurance companies will do everything they can to get out of paying. So what's the point? I get my care from alternative doctors and acupuncturists, and the insurance wouldn't cover that anyway. I just pay for it out of pocket.

We definitely need a better system. My suggestion would be to have free health care ala public schools and then private health care for those who want the deluxe version. Of course the free health care would not be the best, but it's better than nothing.