Back in 1776, at the birth of the American Republic, a sniffle was a serious matter. A cold would be worse. Flu could easily be fatal.
All too many maladies were potentially fatal as the means of treatment were, by today's standards, minimal. So a physician turning up at your bedside, while welcome, was yet a moment of extreme uncertainty.
The patient might end up being bled by leeches; might end up imbibing poison as a purported cure; might have to listen to the doctor waffle on about "humors." Regardless of treatment or talk, the bed ridden patient would not feel especially encouraged.
250 years on we have advanced to RFK Jr. and a Congress that views health care as a political football. Regardless of one's position, be it in bed, in a chair, or standing, the overall sense of where we are today is not, well, especially encouraging.
In recent weeks Congress has wrestled with the always thorny issue of health care. The thorny part is invariably to do with money. Nobody argues with the need for care per se. It's a question of how it is dispensed. The concept of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness doesn't much enter the argument.
One would think that, 250 years on, those we elect would find it possible to agree on certain basic principles, one being that it is the duty of legislators in a supposedly sane and sensible society to make it possible for all citizens to be able to avail of the best possible health care, and that said care is affordable for all.
Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick.
This is not the case. The American health care landscape is like a jigsaw with all the pieces on the floor. It's a mess. And it is a mess in the richest nation in human history.
The squabble over subsidies under the Affordable Health Care Act has been little short of disgraceful. A wag might suggest that all that needs to be done is to change the act's sobriquet, "Obamacare," to "Trumpcare" and all will be well.
This sounds like a joke, but given the grim state of affairs on Capitol Hill, not really.
In the middle of the ludicrous situation surrounding the act we have been witness to four Republican members of the House of Representatives seemingly embracing the mad idea that they might have been elected to make life a little easier for folks.
Two of these representatives are familiar to Echo readers in other contexts. They are Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick from Pennsylvania and Congressman Mike Lawler from New York.
The "ACA Four" appear to be awake to the challenging situation facing millions of Americans when it comes to being able to actually afford health care.
By contrast, all too many of their colleagues appear to have imbibed large doses of political laudanum.
