The debate over health care in this country is all wrong. The question being debated should be how are we going to provide coverage for millions of uninsured Americans, not if we should do so.

It's ironic that the richest country in the history of mankind lets millions of people walk around without decent health coverage and allows millions more to be denied because of preexisting conditions, while insurance companies rake in billions of dollars.

That's why news that President Barack Obama has gained the support of the AARP, an organization that advocates for older Americans, and the American Medical Association, which represents doctors, is welcome.

"I urge Congress to listen to the AARP, listen to the AMA and pass this reform for hundreds of millions of Americans," Obama said in a surprise appearance in the White House briefing room, the New York Times reported. "We are closer to passing this reform than ever before."

Under the bill, 36 million uninsured Americans would be extended health coverage by expanding Medicaid. Those of middle income without coverage would be extended subsidies and have an opportunity to purchase coverage
through a federally run program.

For African Americans, improving the health care system is a life-and-death proposal. The NAACP has launched the 880 Campaign to support passage of the health care bill. The name 880 comes from the fact that half of the 880,000 deaths of black people could have been prevented if we had the same mortality rate as white Americans, according to the American Journal of Public Health. In addition, the NAACP reports that:

Children born to black women are more than twice as likely to die within their first year of life than children born to white women. People of color are more likely to suffer and die from diabetes, cancer, cardiovascular disease and other chronic diseases. Uninsured Americans are more likely to use the emergency room for preventative care and routine checkups, forcing longer wait times and costing states and taxpayers more.

African Americans also need to take steps to improve our own health, such as educating ourselves about the diseases that kill us and establishing habits such as exercising and eating healthier. Proper health care, though, is a big part of the solution.

According to the New York Times:

The House bill would require individuals to buy insurance and all but the smallest employers to offer health coverage to workers. It also would provide subsidies to help purchase insurance and would eliminate the industry's exemption from federal antitrust laws. ... The House and Senate bills both include a government-run public insurance option that Obama and supporters say would create competition in the insurance market.

But even as Obama was announcing his new AARP support, protesters, led by Republican lawmakers, were in front of the Capitol injecting pure nonsense into the debate.

The crowd waved signs reading, "No Socialistic Health Care," "Sweeping Away Socialism One Democrat at a Time," "Politicians Lie, Patients Die," "You lie!" and "All lies," the New York Times reported.

I've got news for those protesters: Once we hit 65, we all jump on the "socialized medicine" of Medicare. Without it, our senior citizens would be sick and impoverished. Republicans, such as Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Bob Dole and Barry Goldwater all said that the passage of Medicare in 1965 would lead to socialism despite the fact that one of the biggest needs for the bill was the unwillingness of private insurers to cover the elderly.

It's been 34 years since the passage of Medicare. The last time I checked, this was not a "socialist country." Now, we are in a similar situation, where the private health care industry is not adequately covering Americans. Why not protest the way the insurance industry treats Americans? Why not make the changes necessary to improve the health care system for us all?

The debate shouldn't be about if all Americans deserve decent coverage; it should be about how we are going to provide it.