Your Opinion: Using health care to attack Obama

Dear Editor:

Soon after taking office President Obama began health care legislation. Because he kept moving forward we now have many protections in our health care system.

For me, personally, I am thankful that our youngest daughter was able to get more time under our health insurance. I am grateful that if I get really sick my insurance can't drop me or max out my coverage. I am thankful that those with previously existing conditions especially children will be able to get coverage, seniors get improved help for their prescriptions and more. And I think it is wonderful that more people will get access to life-saving screenings and preventative care.

I support insurers covering copay for birth control. The problem I feel that some don't seem to understand is that coverage for health care should know no religion. The final decision as to whether or not to use a certain medicine lies with the individual, not the insurance company. The problem is that many faith based groups saw the profits of health care and forayed blindly into an area where controversy will always live.

The way I see it, the folks who are being denied their freedom are the ones who work for these faith-based groups and are insured y them as part of their salaries. These individuals are given the health care of their employers skewed by their employer's beliefs, whether or not they agree. Thus the employees are the ones being discriminated against, not the health care provider.

And it's not the same as folks getting services in religious affiliated hospitals. Hospitals offer a service that consumers choose to buy. Those same consumers can choose secular hospitals or religious affiliated ones. The consumer makes the choice. In the case of health care given by self-insured religious groups, the employer is making the choice for the employee. The employee has no say in their basic coverage. The only choice they have is to take or not take the health care insurance, not truly a choice.

The actual law states that exchanges must offer at least one policy that does not cover abortion. It seems to me that folks are using this issue as a vehicle to rail against President Obama without ever having to say his name. They can site attacks on their "religious freedom" without ever endangering their church's tax exempt status. Interesting.