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Reality checkup

The health-care debate suffers from a lack of understanding of the current system and a reluctance to see the real opportunity

Published on Wednesday, Aug 12, 2009

The argument over health care has not lacked a bipartisan ground. For years, Democrats and Republicans have recited why the current health-care system is an intolerable drag. They note how serious illness or an accident can drive families into bankruptcy, how the costs are crippling governments and how the burden of employee health care puts American companies at a huge disadvantage against international competitors. Of course, the point for each side is to argue for its favored changes. Yet that focus hardly obscures the common recognition: The system cannot be sustained as is.

All too quickly, a compelling case to fix the system has devolved into an unhelpful battle of recriminations, the tone evident in comments such as Sen. Jim DeMint's that ''this health-care issue is D-Day for freedom in America.'' There are indeed elements of freedom involved in the issue. One is freedom from ignorance, which feeds unfounded fears. The furor at town-hall meetings has been revealing. It has exposed a disturbing depth of ignorance regarding the national structure of health care.

Chuckle, if you will, at those elderly citizens who rail against a ''government takeover'' of health care at the same time as they demand that Congress take its government hands off their Medicare. The reality is that degree of misinformation about the system as a whole makes it all the more difficult to advance to the real freedom: Legislation that will relieve American families, businesses and governments of the weight of a system that is exceptionally costly yet does not yield exceptional health outcomes.

Amid the rising tempers in and out Congress, it is easy to overlook another reality. The give-and-take in the legislative process to overhaul health care has produced broad agreement on several fronts, advances that seemed unlikely a year or so ago.

For instance, the bills under consideration agree that all Americans should be required to have health insurance, with subsidies to help those who cannot afford to buy it in the private market. The consensus recognizes the cost burden 45 million uninsured individuals impose on the system overall.

There is agreement, too, that there should be a basic level of health benefits, which would ensure everyone access to care when they are sick. The policy of private insurance companies denying coverage or charging astronomical premiums to patients with pre-existing or chronic health conditions is a source of harrowing experiences. The proposals show broad agreement to end such discriminatory policies.

None of this is to say there isn't room for vigorous disagreement. The bills remain works in progress and the mechanisms to achieve these goals still in contention, for instance, whether a mandate for individual coverage is best achieved via a public option or health insurance cooperatives. The shame would be losing sight of how far this debate has come.

The argument over health care has not lacked a bipartisan ground. For years, Democrats and Republicans have recited why the current health-care system is an intolerable drag. They note how serious illness or an accident can drive families into bankruptcy, how the costs are crippling governments and how the burden of employee health care puts American companies at a huge disadvantage against international competitors. Of course, the point for each side is to argue for its favored changes. Yet that focus hardly obscures the common recognition: The system cannot be sustained as is.

Get the full article here.


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gene
akron, OH

Posted 07:37 AM, 08/12/2009

Hard to chuckle at people who have the bill language in their hands when they speak out at these meetings. One more reality that shouldn't be ignored, they vote! By the way, have any of you read the various bills?


Happiness is
akron, oh

Posted 12:18 PM, 08/12/2009

@beacon journal, once again,you guys would let our president and his cronies do anything they want. Hey, it took him 6 months to pick out a dog, why should healthcare be run thru in a week or two.














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