Thousands of uninsured and underinsured Americans anxiously waited in lines that snaked around the Los Angeles Forum where Remote Area Medical units were providing routine medical care. Many of the people arrived at the Forum during the wee hours of the morning, hoping to be treated for the simplest of ailments. A seemingly endless row of people seeking health care is a common site in Third World nations, but when such an appalling scene appears on our shores, the nation’s broken health care system becomes evident.
At the same time, President Barack Obama, facing increased opposition to a public insurance option, was forced to conduct a series of town hall meetings across several swing states. By the time Obama finished his trek, his robust health care plan had withered into a frail assortment of watered-down policies that would only perpetuate the flaws of the current system. The public option had turned into a co-operative, price controls were gone and hostile crowds were demanding less of the one thing that will save American health care – progressive ideas.
The shrieking sounds of ignorance at town hall meetings and the pretentious jabbering of conservative talk show hosts quickly fade when thousands of people tell their horror stories about a health care system built on a market-oriented foundation of greed and neglect. When a dying man describes how a private insurance company repeatedly declined to provide care due to a trivial preexisting condition, profit appears far less important.
Socialism might be a four-letter word in America, but people need to realize that every sector of society does not have to make a profit. In order to minimize risk and maximize profits within a capitalist health care system, private insurers deprive care. Americans simply cannot buy their way out of this quagmire. Placing a value on life and turning the human body into a commodity demoralizes the populace and turns everyone into nothing but a customer. The system hemorrhages cash, leaves 46 million people uninsured and, according to the World Health Organization, is ranked 37th in terms of quality care.
Due to an indulgence in limited government, individualism and self-reliance, convincing Americans they should care for someone else is difficult. For the past century, whenever attempts were made to reform health care, fear-mongers espoused rhetoric laced with dishonesty and declared that the stars and stripes would be replaced with a sickle and hammer. Of course, their fears never came to fruition. Few people complain about the benefits of public schools, post offices, libraries, police and fire departments and the military. Medicare and Medicaid – two of the most popular public programs in U.S. history – are examples of socialized health care.
Much like the past, if it wasn’t for the slippery slope defense, the anti-health care reform movement would have no defense. Some concerns are legitimate, but paranoid accusations about “death panels,” eugenics and government-sponsored abortion are nothing more than public relations campaigns instigated by insurance companies.
Concerns about private insurers’ ability to compete with the government are misguided because FedEx and UPS manage just fine against the U.S. Postal Service. Other concerns about government bureaucrats depriving citizens of care are just as irrational, because as the system stands, it is corporate bureaucrats who deprive people of care.
Americans have to realize the health care debate is not really about capitalism or socialism – it is about need. It is about caring for fellow citizens. Obama’s task should be to change the health care system so it meets the needs of the people – not the insurance companies. The only way to accomplish this feat is through the creation of a public insurance plan capable of competing with private insurers.
Without the public option, the reform movement is meaningless. Any legislation that passes without a government insurance plan will be incapable of curbing skyrocketing costs and do little more than funnel new customers into fraudulent private insurance companies. Using the government’s considerable buying power to negotiate deals with the pharmaceutical companies and drive down costs, a public option would be akin to Medicare.
Forbidding insurance companies from discriminating against people with preexisting conditions, requiring everyone – even healthy citizens – to obtain insurance and providing incentives for doctors to focus on the quality of care rather than the quantity are integral components of reform, but they will not stop spiraling costs.
Financing such a sweeping reform of the health care industry will obviously require a combination of options: a surtax on the wealthiest 2 percent, a cap on tax-free employee benefits or a tax on employer-based health care. The first two options appear far more tenable for the White House to promote.
A nation’s strength is not measured by the size of its military nor the wealth of the rich – it is measured by its capacity to care for the ill and the forgotten. If a nation can finance two wars and a bank bailout, then it can find a way to provide universal health care.
At the same time, President Barack Obama, facing increased opposition to a public insurance option, was forced to conduct a series of town hall meetings across several swing states. By the time Obama finished his trek, his robust health care plan had withered into a frail assortment of watered-down policies that would only perpetuate the flaws of the current system. The public option had turned into a co-operative, price controls were gone and hostile crowds were demanding less of the one thing that will save American health care – progressive ideas.
The shrieking sounds of ignorance at town hall meetings and the pretentious jabbering of conservative talk show hosts quickly fade when thousands of people tell their horror stories about a health care system built on a market-oriented foundation of greed and neglect. When a dying man describes how a private insurance company repeatedly declined to provide care due to a trivial preexisting condition, profit appears far less important.
Socialism might be a four-letter word in America, but people need to realize that every sector of society does not have to make a profit. In order to minimize risk and maximize profits within a capitalist health care system, private insurers deprive care. Americans simply cannot buy their way out of this quagmire. Placing a value on life and turning the human body into a commodity demoralizes the populace and turns everyone into nothing but a customer. The system hemorrhages cash, leaves 46 million people uninsured and, according to the World Health Organization, is ranked 37th in terms of quality care.
Due to an indulgence in limited government, individualism and self-reliance, convincing Americans they should care for someone else is difficult. For the past century, whenever attempts were made to reform health care, fear-mongers espoused rhetoric laced with dishonesty and declared that the stars and stripes would be replaced with a sickle and hammer. Of course, their fears never came to fruition. Few people complain about the benefits of public schools, post offices, libraries, police and fire departments and the military. Medicare and Medicaid – two of the most popular public programs in U.S. history – are examples of socialized health care.
Much like the past, if it wasn’t for the slippery slope defense, the anti-health care reform movement would have no defense. Some concerns are legitimate, but paranoid accusations about “death panels,” eugenics and government-sponsored abortion are nothing more than public relations campaigns instigated by insurance companies.
Concerns about private insurers’ ability to compete with the government are misguided because FedEx and UPS manage just fine against the U.S. Postal Service. Other concerns about government bureaucrats depriving citizens of care are just as irrational, because as the system stands, it is corporate bureaucrats who deprive people of care.
Americans have to realize the health care debate is not really about capitalism or socialism – it is about need. It is about caring for fellow citizens. Obama’s task should be to change the health care system so it meets the needs of the people – not the insurance companies. The only way to accomplish this feat is through the creation of a public insurance plan capable of competing with private insurers.
Without the public option, the reform movement is meaningless. Any legislation that passes without a government insurance plan will be incapable of curbing skyrocketing costs and do little more than funnel new customers into fraudulent private insurance companies. Using the government’s considerable buying power to negotiate deals with the pharmaceutical companies and drive down costs, a public option would be akin to Medicare.
Forbidding insurance companies from discriminating against people with preexisting conditions, requiring everyone – even healthy citizens – to obtain insurance and providing incentives for doctors to focus on the quality of care rather than the quantity are integral components of reform, but they will not stop spiraling costs.
Financing such a sweeping reform of the health care industry will obviously require a combination of options: a surtax on the wealthiest 2 percent, a cap on tax-free employee benefits or a tax on employer-based health care. The first two options appear far more tenable for the White House to promote.
A nation’s strength is not measured by the size of its military nor the wealth of the rich – it is measured by its capacity to care for the ill and the forgotten. If a nation can finance two wars and a bank bailout, then it can find a way to provide universal health care.
