Health Care Reform

It is Monday morning, March 22, 2010. I have read my daily newspaper which featured multiple articles on the historic health care reform bill passed last night in the House. I have watched taped bits of the debate on C-SPAN wherein the Republican speakers decried the bill in the most horrific tones while the Democratic speakers lauded its many accomplishments. I have spent the last six months talking to my neighbors, friends and family who also reflected this split in opinion. And I have spent the first 2 months of this year struggling to pay for healthcare while on COBRA due to the loss of my primary job on January 4th of this year. So, which is it? Financial doom and the beginning of the end of our freedoms or a step towards utopia?

My hope is that the majority of us who are too busy making a living, driving their kids to soccer games and swimming practice and working 2 or more jobs to pay their bills will join me in the understanding that it is neither the best legislation ever nor the end of America as we know it. My hope is that we will demand that the rancorous debate that we have seen in Congress and in the streets, debate which seemed more like professional wrestling than serious discussion, will be replaced by civil discourse based on the issues, not fear. And finally, I hope that we will all take a good look in the mirror and remember that our founders gave us the basis for the greatest governance in history but that it requires an incredible individual and personal responsibility to make it work.

The baseline debate, to me, is; should all Americans have access to affordable health care? I believe that if you asked that question, a large majority of people in this country would answer yes. 

Obviously, healthy people need to contribute premiums to help pay for the sick. Healthy people should accept this burden because some day they could be in need. I sometimes hear people complain that they never get sick so why should they pay for health insurance. I usually ask them if they would rather be sick so they were getting their money's worth. Or if they plan to die early so they don't waste all those years of life insurance premiums.

Speaking of money, why do we spend almost twice as much per person as any other county for health care but have poorer outcomes? Undeniably, our health care system provides tremendous care. But it seems that the care is accessible in proportion to one's income. When you see certain pundits claim that America has the greatest health care system in the world because they just got treated or all these famous people always come here, focus on the fact that the main thing in common is money and resources. But what about all the people without those advantages? Are we really comfortable with the provision that like any other product in a free market system, access to quality health care should be based on one's ability to pay?

While I am no economist, I do know that my recent loss of my full time job resulted in a COBRA payment that was not affordable. Luckily, the stimulus package included a 65% subsidy for those who lost their jobs since Dec 2008 and even more fortunate, I was able to secure a job this month that provides health coverage. 

So again, if we accept the premise of universal access, then we must face the real life question of cost. Should we cap the profit of insurance companies or mandate that they be non-profit? Should we cap the salary of doctors? Should we cap the cost of technology such as X-ray machines? Should we cap the cost of services such as heart bypass surgery? Should we cap the cost of liability insurance for health care providers and lawsuit payouts when medical negligence occurs? Should we do all of those things so that we can truly say that America has the best health care system and have actual facts and statistics to prove it?

And what about you and me? Should we pay better attention to what we eat so we don't need to take so much medication? Should we exercise a little more and watch TV a little less? Should we change our unhealthy behaviors rather than asking for a drug to counteract our poor choices?

We have major issues to discuss concerning health care in America and those issues have not been decided with the recent passage of the health care reform bill. I trust that Americans will continue the debate at work and at home and I look forward to that debate on this blog. You know my thoughts; what are yours?