I am usually a patient and understanding person. I know that not everyone sees the world through the same filters as I do and therefore our interpretation of what is happening in that world can be very different. When my viewpoint and other’s viewpoints clash, I do my best to see the world through their eyes; I really try not to jump to arbitrary conclusions or stereotype people because of our ideological differences. Most of the time, I succeed, but the debate over healthcare reform between the Republicans and the Democrats has sorely tested both my patience and my understanding.
I know that not everyone who is opposed to healthcare reform and/or this particular Senate bill feels this way because he or she hates Obama. I know there are people who oppose this bill on principle – they do not believe the government has any legitimate role in regulating private industry. This is an honest difference of opinion and can be debated by reasonable people. I also know there are people who are opposed to this bill not on principle or because they are opposed to healthcare reform, but only because they have been listening to the lies of those who do hate Obama. I am increasingly weary of the lies and of the liars.
I am also increasingly angry with those who insist on distorting the truth – who lie - about the healthcare bills from the House and the Senate. The lies are purely for a political purpose, for the expressed agenda of bringing down President Obama, of not allowing him to succeed. There is simply no truth to the continuous and loud ranting and ravings that this bill is a government takeover of healthcare. The politicians and pundits who claim this are lying – and I say they are lying because they know what they are saying is not true; deliberately saying something that is not true is by definition, lying.
This bill is not a government takeover of healthcare! It is not even close to being that. One of the provisions that is in the proposed legislation is exactly what the Republicans proposed months ago – an insurance exchange, where those without employer provided insurance and small businesses that have a hard time providing insurance for their employees, can go and shop around for affordable insurance. It would be affordable, or at least more affordable than what insurance costs today, because of the competition, and it would not be “a government run health plan” – there is no government run health plan option in this bill!
The Senate bill, which is what President Obama is supporting, besides creating an exchange, sets minimum requirements on any insurance company that wants to participate in the exchange, so that there would be some basic standardized care provided by all the participating insurance companies. These are government regulations, not control and nowhere near being a takeover of healthcare. As President Obama said, this is no more a government intrusion into the lives of Americans than the FDA requiring testing of new drugs to make sure they (the drugs) do not kill people, or the government setting standards for the handling and processing of our food so that our food is safe to eat. Most people I think would appreciate this kind of regulation and do not fear this is taking away their rights or their freedoms.
What is being proposed right now this very minute in the healthcare bill being debated is just that – regulations that would set a standard for the basic services provided by the insurance companies participating in the exchange so that no matter what insurance company a person chose - whatever private, for profit, non-government insurance company - there would be uniformity in some basic services.
And let’s talk about the horrors of mandates. Who first proposed using mandates as a way to get everyone insured and at the same time keep costs down? Um, that would be Republicans. And when did they do this? That would be back in 1993 as part of their counter-proposal to the Clinton healthcare initiative. Ironically, back then it wasn’t considered unconstitutional by any Republican – nor was it considered unconstitutional as far back as June of 2009 when it was again proposed by Republicans as their better way than a public option to get everyone insured. And guess what? The mandates are now in the bill and all of a sudden - surprise, surprise - mandates have suddenly become unconstitutional.
I could go on and on about the blatant hypocrisy of those politicians who mere months ago supported something and now, because it is in the bill, because their input was heard and accepted, no longer support what they once supported and simultaneously whine that their input was ignored. If their input now is reduced to “let’s start over,” which is what apparently it has come to, I hope this time the Democrats do ignore what the Republicans say they want, because further delay is not what Americans want. Americans do want their politicians to stop the endless bickering – and they want insurance reform.
But I wonder, isn’t the Republican cry to start over really just code for wanting to scrap the entire process of healthcare reform – for not doing anything substantial, now or ever?
Republicans claim they want to start over; I claim they do not. They want to scrap the entire process of healthcare reform, saying it is “too complicated” but really meaning that they do not see any political advantage to themselves in changing this broken system. And yes this system is broken. America may have the best healthcare in the world, but it has an abysmal health insurance industry that makes getting this best healthcare financially prohibitive and almost impossible for far too many of her citizens.
When we get right down to it, Republicans do not want to tamper with a system that seems to work well for them, despite the fact that this system is not working well for far too many Americans. Republicans are happy with the status quo because they cannot see how doing something this good for the American people during the first year or term of Obama’s presidency could possibly be good for them in the upcoming elections of 2010 and more significantly, 2012. Because it is difficult to come right out and say that (unless you’re Beck or Limbaugh), Republicans have resorted to the tactics of lying about what is in the bill and what this bill will do to America – they have lied over and over again in order to scare the American people. Sadly, it looks like their tactics have worked and now too many Americans are unsure of what is in this bill and what this bill will do for them.
The entire bill is designed to provide consumers with protections against the arbitrary and capricious ways of the insurance company. Get sick? No problem, they just drop your insurance. Been sick before? No problem, they just deny you and your family any insurance – or charge you so much for insurance you probably won’t be able to buy it. Or they raise premiums because they can – they don’t even need a legitimate reason.
This bill is not perfect but if perfection was the criterion for getting a bill passed through Congress, no bill would ever pass. If it were up to me, I would insist upon a public option because it is the only guaranteed way to provide genuine competition and therefore keep costs down, but a public option, i.e. a government run healthcare plan, is not in the bill and has not been in the bill since it came out of the Senate. The House bill has a public option and that may still be incorporated into the Senate bill, but that seems doubtful – which is sad to me, not something over which to rejoice. And if that were to happen, if a public option were included in the bill, and if a public option were to become available to Americans – that still would not be a government takeover of healthcare – that would be additional choice and competition, two concepts most Americans embrace as part of the American way.
This bill, imperfect as it may be, is not a government takeover of the entire healthcare system. This bill is not proof that Obama is a socialist and wants to have the government run the entire country – that is just a talking point meant to scare people, not inform them. This bill is not the end of the United States of America as we know it. The provisions in this bill are intended to protect consumers against the proven greed of the insurance companies, because all of the practices that insurance companies have engaged in are calculated to do one thing and one thing only – increase the bottom line for their shareholders at the expense of the insured. This is not just about a private industry making profits – this is about a private industry making excessive profits to the detriment of the people who through their premiums are supporting this industry for the purpose of being insured should they get sick – not to guarantee that the CEOs can get an enormous bonus for coming up with even more artful ways to deny paying claims.
What the insurance companies are doing is legal within the laws of the United States but I find it to be morally corrupt and an antithesis to the true Spirit of the United States. That is why I support government intervention – regulations and not a takeover – so that insurance companies have some restrictions placed upon their practices. Insurance companies should not maintain the unfettered freedom to continue making their excessive profits at the expense of the health, well-being and sadly all too often, the lives of the American people; America is a better country than that.
No comments:
Post a Comment