I had the opportunity to hear a panel speak on healthcare reform. There were 4, obviously very knowledgeable people about the proposed legislation to give all Americans medical coverage. Unfortunately, I had to leave early; my lack of sleep from travel was catching up with me.

One speaker addressed the bill directly and he shared the information that made this bill work for him. He spoke for 15 minutes and told the audience of about 100 people what he wanted us to hear. Of course there was applause following his brief presentation.

I thought to myself “what is he leaving out”? Because I haven’t read the information that he read, I can’t fairly comment on the content. What about those who do have the time to read it, analyze it and understand it? How will we ever know if we support something if we don’t read it? It sounds good when we are told about it. But we can’t possibly be confident that we know the whole story.

Obviously I feel that medical coverage for everyone in America is important. Just as we count on our children’s education and the police will be keeping us safe, I want to know I can go to a doctor when I, or my family are sick.

I didn’t have a choice of teacher who would be making an impact on my children’s life in school. My children spend a year with their teacher whether I like them or not. We take our education for granted sometimes. I wonder if I would be willing to use a doctor if I had little choice who he or she was, because they are paid for by the government. Isn’t this what veterans do? Do they have a choice of doctor when they use the veteran’s services?

I worked hard to get legislation passed in NY for physician profiles. We can check our doctor’s background. But, it’s self reported and may not be accurate. But we still trust the information. I used this information to choose a doctor but have also used doctors because someone else recommended them. When we go to the emergency room everything changes; you get who you get.

How much would we be willing to give up or can we be flexible at all to allow healthcare coverage for every person in this country? Maybe we, the citizens should be thinking about writing our own healthcare reform bill and make it understandable.