In the Times today, Gail Collins...

...writes:

No matter what you think of it, this health care bill is one heck of a change.

The Republicans, of course, have been calling the bill a "massive government takeover of health care."

Bill Maher, on the other hand, said on his show last night that after the bill is passed, "we'll be able to buy health insurance from a private health insurance company." In other words, no change at all.

So who's right?

My wife asked me the other day what reform would mean to our family. After a minute or so, I mumbled, "Uh...nothing." (We're fortunate, you see. We're healthy and can afford a private insurance policy.) We'll continue to pay the same insurance premiums to the same company, see the same private doctors and go to the same private hospitals as always, and try to take good care of ourselves to avoid getting sick in the first place. If the bill passes on Sunday, as expected, we'll wake up Monday morning and go about our lives as if nothing ever happened.

But then I thought some more. And what I told my wife is that what this reform means for us (and all Americans) is security. Because for the first time in our nation's history, we'll enjoy what citizens in every other developed country take for granted. We'll never be without insurance, even if we can't afford it or get sick or get hit by a bus. We'll never get dropped by our insurer if we get sick or get hit by a bus. There will be no annual or lifetime caps if we get sick or get hit by a bus. We'll never have to declare bankruptcy if we get sick or get hit by a bus. We'll never again get cheated by an insurance company. In other words, we'll be insured against a medical catastrophe, just like we're insured in case our house burns down.

Now I can get back to earning a living, making a marriage work, and raising two kids--with one less thing to worry about.

Gail Collins is right. That is one heck of a change.