OK. You may be thinking “enough with the health care debate!” And I understand and agree. I know there’s a general fed-up feeling about the debate itself and its frequent ideological distortions and implications — not to mention the fact the much-needed reform took too long to be concluded, if it’s even been concluded at all. But let me try to shed some light on a couple of points from my perspective. The first one comes from my personal background as a foreigner and international student living in the United States. I’m able to compare differences and similarities between health care systems here and there (“there” means Brazil, by the way). The second one would be a deeper question I propose about health care itself: Why do we need medical care so much? Why are we almost constantly sick, whether that sickness is a simple cold or a more severe condition?We have all kinds of private health insurance plans in Brazil in addition to a public option. It’s risky to say the public option is better or that a private plan is better than the public service. You can get good service from the public option depending on where you are (a big central city or an inner-state small town). You can also get a good coverage plan from the most common private companies, depending on your budget — some of them founded and run by doctors and health care professionals. In any case, what you get depends mostly on the doctor you’re seeing, and there’s generally not an issue about whether the government or the private company is going to interfere in the care you’ll get. Of course, different plans can limit the coverage you get. A more complicated exam or procedure can also be delayed by an overloaded system in the public option. Nothing smells like roses when it comes to solving bureaucratic issues before actually giving someone proper health treatment.But, of course, the economic side of the matter brings us to the delicate part of the debate, past misguided political and vicious ideological attempts to distract people from what the discussion is really about. No, I’m not going to speculate about the budgeting issues of reform. Nor will I defend or support the creation of a new public option. I instead want to offer some reflections on why we spend so much money and effort on trying to keep our fragile health intact through our crazy and hectic lives. “Health insurance” is a term that would be better called “sick insurance.” We need it because we are constantly sick. It seems you’re not a normal person if you’re not suffering from some kind of cold, flu or allergy. Of course no one likes to have a serious condition, but confess it: You like to say you have a cold you’re trying to beat for weeks, but you are living a hectic crazy life, running on caffeine and Tylenol. How odd would it be to remain in good health, with no flu or colds for more than a month? Taking pills is as common as eating a burger with fries in the middle of the day as an excuse for a meal. Oops! There’s the real reason why we are in need of (self) health care measures to keep running. Our bodies have lost the ability to heal without “crutches.” Medicines — the more we take them, the more we need them.I believe the health care system and its proposed reform are such a big issue because we are subject to a market that knows how critical our need to feel healthy is. And good health care reform can only start with honest reflection on how we take care of ourselves.Marcelo Vieira is a jazz cello graduate student from Brazil. Follow him on twitter @TDR_mvieira____Contact Marcelo Vieira at [email protected]