Health shmealth?

Unless you’ve been living under a rock for a while now, you’re aware that Sunday night, some pretty important legislation was voted on, and on Tuesday, President Obama signed the health care bill into law. Now, I’ve been debating whether or not to discuss health care reform on this blog. Politics is a huge personal interest of mine, but as a PR professional, I’ve been wondering if it’s OK for me to post my feelings to social media outlets such as Twitter and this blog on such a divisive topic. I’ve been leaning towards the it’s-not-such-a-good-idea column, and that very topic was addressed recently by another, much more seasoned PR pro, Rachel A. Kay. You can read her post, with insightful comments, here.

After reading her post and talking about the issue with people in my network, I’ve decided that while this is my blog, and I can post whatever my little heart desires, and it’s anyone’s prerogative to read it, ignore it, comment, etc., I am not comfortable posting my opinion. I’d rather stay neutral. At my core, I know that my opinion is not the most important thing here. What matters most to me? Is that people stay informed. I cant tell you how many people I know have asked me what I think of health care reform in the past nine months, and even recently, what will change immediately and how it will affect people.

Staying informed is the most important thing any of us can do as citizens. Like I said, I’m not comfortable sharing my opinions on here, but I am completely comfortable writing about the necessity of being informed.

Yes, Congress can move slowly. Yes, it seems to “take forever” for laws to pass, and it may seem like “nothing ever changes.” But wasn’t this week proof of just the opposite? It was less than two years ago when Barack Obama won the election. Was the attitude of “it doesn’t matter who wins, it won’t affect my life” prevalent then? I wonder, if anyone had those feelings then, do they still have them after this week?

In case you’re unclear, and there are a lot of intricacies to health care reform, here are some things that will happen. Some may hit home more than others, especially if you’re into GTL.

• Health insurers cannot deny children health insurance because of pre-existing conditions.
• The cut-off age for young adults to continue to be covered by their parents’ health insurance rises to age 27.
• Insurance companies can no longer cut someone when he or she gets sick.
• Chain restaurants that have more than 20 locations must display calorie information next to the food item on the standard menu.
• There will be a 10 percent tax on indoor tanning services.

For more, visit CNN, Huffington Post, The Wall Street Journal, and Fox News. And those are only a handful of links that will help you stay informed. Seek out the information, follow a feed, buy a newspaper– anything. Because being informed is the most important issue here.

Image: Thanks *momoc