Health Care Dreams

Okay, maybe I'm going a little bit nuts on health care reform. Last night, it took over my dreams. Literally. The whole night, I dreamt that I was in various rooms in Washington, D.C. that were filled with congresspeople - mostly House of Representatives - and I kept going up to the various Republicans and asking how it was that they possibly could be against a public option. "Public option," I'd say, stressing the second word (in contrast to a single payer public plan, which would be like Medicare for everyone).

None of them had an answer. It was unanimous. Each one would stand, flat footed, a little shocked that I had asked. Then each would mumble something unintelligible and walk away from me. I don't remember all their names. I do remember that one of them was Senator Jon Kyl from Arizona. (Where in the heck did that come from?)

I ended up in a room where people - a mix of congresspeople and citizens - were going to discuss their favorite bills. (OMG - I NEED A LIFE.) In my dream, I figured this was my chance to ask the room - "Will anyone explain to me why they oppose a public option?" One dark-haired congresswoman - perhaps that bizarre one? Michele Bachmann - was very interested in having a substantive discussion with me about it. So we got paired up. I was so interested in what she had to say. Someone actually had a reason! Just as the conversation was to begin... I woke up. So I still have no answer to my question.

It's odd that I wanted to have this discussion with Republicans and not Democrats (since if all Dems voted for the public option, the thing would pass) and that I was talking mostly to Representatives and not Senators (since the public option actually is currently in the House bill and likely will stay there, since there are enough non-Blue Dog Dems in the House to pass it that way).

I did find out something interesting about how I feel about the single payer option. I told one congressman that I actually preferred the single payer idea, but that it was just too different from our current system to get enough public support for passage. I didn't know that is how I really felt.

You know, my health care insurance is fine. My concern about this issue is for everyone else. But I must be pretty worried, to be dreaming about it...

I do think our dreams are our subconscious speaking to us. I also think our dreams can often be soul connections, and not just symbolic for our individual, day-to-day lives. So maybe this room was a truth-telling serum kind of room - where people talk as souls, not as physical beings - and maybe that was why none of them had answers for me. Because there is no legitimate reason to oppose a public option.