I have been half-heartedly following the healthcare reform debate. It has not been half-hearted because I don't care that much -- I do -- but rather because, to be honest, I don't understand a lot of it, and what I do understand usually leads to me becoming very frustrated very quickly (i.e. the passage of the Stupak-Pitts Amendment).

I admit that I have not had to deal much with health insurance. Most of my life, I was covered by my parents' insurance. When that stopped, I was at college and had access to basic care at the health center and had to pay for my prescriptions out of pocket - pricey, but simple enough. Then I got a job and I'm covered through that. I had multiple options, but I just chose one based on... I'm not even sure what logic it was based on. It may have boiled down to multiple choice.

So yeah, I have little to no experience with this stuff, but whenever I do delve into it, it seems confusing and frustrating. Does my plan cover X? Figuring that out by looking at the company's website is far too difficult. Why did my prescription copay suddenly rise? Another half-hour spent online figuring it out. And that's just looking at a single plan, rather than comparing plans and trying to figure out what's the best, most cost-efficient, and appropriate option. I don't have to try to find insurance for myself, weigh the merits of going with or without it, etc.

I feel like I'm pretty smart, but the idea of having to deal with insurance companies and sorting out details terrifies and confuses me. I have to wonder how it got so damn complicated, how the system became this crazy behemoth. Then I start longing for a simpler solution, probably a single-payer type plan. Health care is important! It should be like education and roads and libraries and be available to everyone! Then I realize I'm a crazy idealistic type with socialist tendencies and should probably look into moving to Scandinavia or something. Or at least a country with a social democratic party. Or a viable liberal party that's actually, you know, left-of-center. And then I start getting bitter towards the Democratic party and just get sad.