Organizing For Freedom

This past weekend, we were at Rockbridge for their weekly Farmer's Flea Market event to gather signatures for The Ohio Healthcare Freedom Amendment.  There was quite a crowd there, with all kinds of diversities represented.  Old and young, short and tall, some taking their time strolling the grounds and some in a big time hurry.  The most remarkable thing I saw, however, was that when it comes to our freedoms, just about everyone was in agreement.  Even folks who didn't sign the petition agreed that we are blessed to have the RIGHT to decide---the FREEDOM to make our decision without coercion or any kind of pressure.  We asked several people about their voting habits - Democrat or Republican?  Independent or Libertarian?  Their answers were as diverse as the crowds themselves.  Ultimately we found that while folks may differ in ideaology the one ideal we ALL appreciate and cling to is our FREEDOM.

Why am I adamant that American Health Care should NOT be directed by the government? Our family was transferred from Ohio to Toronto, Ontario Canada in 1997 - where we became legal residents and were beneficiaries of the Canadian Health System. We lived there 5 years before returning to Ohio. Then, and now, health care is administered and regulated by each provincial government.

In 1999 I went for a routine eye check at a local optometrist's office. He noted something odd in my eye that he had not seen the previous year. A subsequent appointment with an Ophthalmologist there gave a preliminary diagnosis of malignant melanoma of the retina. Very rare. I needed to be seen by a retinal specialist, but with the wait list my first possible appointment was 9 weeks out. And, at best, he could confirm but then have to schedule surgery sometime down the road – and by this time I was all too familiar with waitlisting.