This morning I read two articles in the New York Times related to the ongoing Health Care reform debate. A few days ago I watched a talk show which hosted two members of the House or Senate talking about the ongoing Health Care reform debate.
Prior to coming to the Clinton School I would have passed over both of those, but I'm trying to broaden my horizons and take advantage of all the school has to offer. One of those offerings is an upcoming meeting with Congressman Vic Snyder as part of the Clinton School's Distinguished Speaker's series. He'll be talking about...the ongoing Health Care reform debate. I thought it would be a good idea to be prepared for our meeting with him.
After reading two articles and watching one talk show, I still know next to nothing about the ongoing Health Care reform debate. Not only do I not get the issue, I don't get methods used to discuss the issue. No one quotes the actual bill. It seems like a series of claims, such as, "They're creating Death Panels!" followed by a series of denials "No we're not!" followed by a series of back-and-forth versions of "Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire!". The point seems to be who can come up with the cleverest insult and hope that it becomes a soundbite.
So, if you're out there and reading this and can point to a good reference which represents both points of view and quotes the actual proposed legislation I'd appreciate it if you'd share it with me. Preferably before our meeting with the Congressman on the 18th.
The main problem in terms of the bill is ... there isn't a bill yet. There are several proposed bills in each house, but neither has actually settled on one they want to vote on.
ReplyDeleteThe Obama Administration was pushing Congress to settle on a bill before the August recess so that time could be spent debating the actual proposal, but that didn't happen.
So a lot of what you hear argued is coming from one proposal or another, but there unfortunately isn't just one thing you can go to and read. The public debate is about everything under the sun.
What gets glossed over in a lot of the talks is that a lot (85% is what's usually quoted) of what's under discussion is already agreed to by all the major players -- Reps, Dems, Obama folks, insurance companies, etc. Stuff like basic insurance reform, making it so that you can't be denied coverage for a pre-existing condition, you can't have your benefits capped, you can't lose coverage for being unemployed, etc.
The major substantive points of debate are really over how to get there. The Republicans (bias alert!) have chosen the tactic of picking out relatively minor and obscure portions of some proposals and ... well, I'm trying to be courteous here, but "flat out lying about them" is sort of the only way to look at it. Which is a shame, because there's plenty to be concerned about in all the proposals from a conservative view. But it's not being attacked from a conservative point of view, it's being attacked from a partisan one, in which the goal is not to solve a problem but to beat the other guy.
The Democrats have been trying to pitch the various proposals as "health insurance reform" because that's pretty much what people want to hear. They've been doing a fair bit of villain-casting of health insurance companies as the bad guys that need to be stopped. Which, when you look at the actual proposals, isn't really what comes out, but that's what's being sold.
I think what the Obama Administration would LIKE to push through is some sort of universal coverage, preferably with a strong taxpayer-supported publicly-available component, and double-preferably in a single-payer model. What they're actually putting into most of the legislation is insurance reform with some kind of clearing-house oversight by the government to make any health insurance conform to the basic outlines above regarding coverage, portability and such.
The guy I like the most on all this has been Ezra Klein, a liberal blogger who's made health care his area of expertise for a long time now (well, long time in blogosphere terms). He really knows his stuff and his rhetoric is pretty mild, while still not hiding his bias.
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/ezra-klein/2009/06/health_reform_for_beginners_th_1.html is a good place to start.
As you can tell this is something I've been thinking a lot about and following for a couple of years now :-)
Bottom line for me -- we pay up to twice as much for health care as any other "Western" nation, for outcomes that are at best only AS good, and we still have 47 million uninsured people. And with one pink slip, any one of us could be in the exact same boat, with no insurance, no way to get new insurance if we have a pre-existing condition, and living in fear that any illness will be the death of both our fiscal and physical lives.
I love having smart friends who like to research and summarize. You're the best, Jeff! Thanks!
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