I've never been a huge fan of "ObamaCare" (or Obama, for that matter), because I think it didn't go nearly far enough in providing healthcare for people who need it (which is all of us). But I can appreciate that it at least got the healthcare conversation started, and it's at least a step in the right direction.
What I can't understand is why we refuse to look at the healthcare systems around the world that are working and try to learn from them. Our American exceptionalism keeps us from admitting that there are in fact countries in the world that do things much better than we do, and healthcare is one of them. The best book I've read on this subject is "The Healing of America" by T.R. Reid. It was a great look into some of the systems in other countries, and it weighs all of their pros and cons. I sometimes think that if everyone in Congress were just forced to read this book, maybe things could change, but I know better than to hope for that.
So I guess I have mixed feelings today. I'm happy for the gains we've made, meager as they are, but still impatient for the changes we really need that can't come soon enough for real people dealing with real illness.
I'm not a big fan of the new health insurance law, for the same reasons you state (Single Payer is the Only Way!!) but I read somewhere that Medicare and Social Security kind of started the same way: watered-down, barely-making-a-dent legislation that eventually was more firmed-up and made effective. If it had been struck down, we'd be nowhere - pushed farther back. At least now we're moving forward. Even if it's baby steps, it still forward.
ReplyDeleteMarsha read T. R. Reid's book last year. I perused it, but have not read the entire thing. I read enough of it to agree with his premise, which I take to be: we can learn a thing or two by studying how health care gets done in other places. After listening to health care debates for more years than I care to remember, I've concluded that one thing most people just don't seem to understand is that all markets are not the same. Switzerland, for instance, is widely recognized as having even fewer market restrictions than the US. But they offer single-payer coverage. Why? Because the healthcare market is unlike other markets, and if you want to get a handle on costs and promote a culture of life you can't treat people the same way you would Oldsmobiles or turnips.
ReplyDeleteWell said both.
ReplyDeleteJust keep in mind that the Supreme court has verified that it's now OK for the gov't. to FORCE you to buy with your own money something you may not want, and that it will transfer across the civil rights spectrum. What will the gov't. order you to do next? Be careful what you wish for, you might just get it.
ReplyDeleteTo my mind the argument about the government being able to make us buy broccoli has at least two problems First, that's not exactly what the court said. Four justices looked to the commerce clause to support their decision. The fifth vote came from Roberts who argued that the money paid by those who do not purchase insurance amounts to a tax. In doing so, by the way, Roberts embraced the logic of "Romneycare" and the conservative American Heritage Institute (which proposed mandates as a "free market solution"). Second, as I said earlier, the healthcare market is not like other markets, in large part because it is something we all use. We can choose not to buy Buicks or broccoli, but at some point we all use healthcare.
ReplyDeleteI couldn't have said it better Rick. I once sat in on a state senate committee hearing on the Minnesota Health Plan (a single-payer system that's been proposed in MN). A lobbyist for insurance agents said that he actually believed that health insurance was the same as car insurance. If you can afford a car, great, then you can afford the insurance, but if you can't afford health insurance, then you shouldn't get it. Even the Republicans in the room seemed taken aback a little. Because Rick's right, healthcare is not like a car. It's something we all need just by virtue of being alive. And if you read the book I mentioned, you'd see that many countries use the individual mandate, and it's what makes the whole system work.
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