Paul Simon
2008-12-24 21:20:47 UTC
The Right Wing's Latest Argument Against Public Health Care -- We'd
Like It Too Much
By Lindsay Beyerstein, The Media Consortium. Posted December 24, 2008.
That's right: Conservatives are terrified that a new system would be
so good we would never want to get rid of it.
A common thread is emerging in the right-wing response to health care
reform. Its opponents aren't claiming that public health care will be
bad. Rather, they are terrified that the new system will be so good
that no citizen would buy expensive private insurance -- or vote for
politicians who wanted to take public insurance away.
Barack Obama's team is sending clear signals that health care reform
is a core economic issue, and the health insurance industry is
becoming increasingly anxious by the future administration's
determination to bring health care costs under control. Some Americans
are seeing their health care premiums rising at four times the rate of
inflation, if they have insurance at all. Health care reform is a
pocketbook issue for all of us, according to the Obama team.
In tough economic times, it might be tempting to postpone health care
reforms, but Obama is adamant that delay would be a false economy. In
the American Prospect, Joanne Kenen and Sarah Axeen support claims
about the high cost of doing nothing:
A recent report by the New America Foundation's health-policy program
estimates that the cost of doing nothing about health care, including
poor health and shorter lifespan of the uninsured, is well above $200
billion a year and rising. That's enough to cover the uninsured and
still have some left over for other public-health needs.
If health care costs continue to rise at their current rates, it will
cost $24,000 a year to insure a family of four by 2016, an 84 percent
increase from today. At these rates, half of American households would
have to spend at least 45 percent of their income to be insured.
In the Nation, Willa Thompson describes how a bicycle crash made her
appreciate the connection between health care and politics. Thompson
was 21 years old when she suffered major injuries after a collision
with a truck. Luckily, she was covered by her parents' medical
insurance until she turned 22. She later realized that if she had been
just a few months older when the accident happened, she wouldn't have
been able to pay for her medical care.
We all agree that something needs to be done. Let's briefly review the
options that have been proposed so far: Obama wants to provide health
care for all by requiring private insurance companies to cover
everyone, and he wants to create a public health insurance plan to
compete with private insurers. The second part of his plan, the public
option, is what Republican opponents are so scared of.
Insurance companies love the idea that we will all be forced to buy
their expensive product; they're not so keen about competition from
the public sector.
Ezra Klein writes, "If you're looking for the coming fault line on the
left of health care politics, keep an eye on what happens to the
public-insurance option in the health reform bill." Will the public
plan survive? Not if the Republicans and the insurance lobby have
anything to say about it. As evidence, Klein cites this passage from a
recent article in Congressional Quarterly:
Mark Hayes, a Republican health policy adviser to the Senate Finance
Committee, said Republicans have concerns because the government plan
might have access to price controls and other tools not available to
private insurers. This could lead to lower premiums in the government
plan, which would cause most consumers to migrate out of the private
market, he said. "Over time, the effect the government option could
have [is an] erosion in the private market, [making] other choices not
available," Hayes said.
The consensus among progressives is clear, the public plan must
prevail. In fact, many advocate going all the way to single-payer
health insurance. Rose Ann DeMoro, executive director of the
California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee
argues in the Progressive that Obama and Tom Daschle, Obama's pick for
health and human services secretary, should opt for single-payer
health insurance. Now is no time for piecemeal solutions:
Such a path would perpetuate the crisis and deal a cruel blow to the
hopes of Americans for real reform. Those in Congress and liberal
policy organizations who are embracing caution or promoting more
insurance, not more care, are playing a risky game. It could
jeopardize the health security of tens of millions of Americans and,
in the process, fatally erode public support for the Obama
administration.
Klein links to a candid post from the blog of the right-wing Cato
Institute, wherein Michael F. Cannon argues that blocking Obama's
health plan is the key to GOP survival. Why? Because, history shows
that once people start getting good health care from the government at
a price they can afford, they want to keep re-electing the politicians
who make that possible. Cannon calls the phenomenon where people
re-elect governments that give them good health care "becoming
dependent on the government," we call it "voting our self-interest."
In other health care news, public-health advocates are not pleased
about rumors that Obama may ask Mark Dybul to stay on as U.S. Global
AIDS Coordinator for the first year of Obama's term. Dybul is
responsible for implementing the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS
Relief, which funds AIDS prevention and treatment in 15 poor
countries. The advocates say that Dybul, a medical doctor, is too
focused on medical interventions and behavioral changes for
individuals and not sufficiently concerned with broader public-health
initiatives.
This post features links to the best independent, progressive
reporting about health care. Visit healthcare.NewsLadder.net for a
complete list of articles on health care, or follow us on Twitter. And
for the best progressive reporting on critical economy and immigration
issues, check out Economy.NewsLadder.net and
Immigration.NewsLadder.net. This is a project of the Media Consortium,
a network of 50 leading independent media outlets, and was created by
NewsLadder.
Like It Too Much
By Lindsay Beyerstein, The Media Consortium. Posted December 24, 2008.
That's right: Conservatives are terrified that a new system would be
so good we would never want to get rid of it.
A common thread is emerging in the right-wing response to health care
reform. Its opponents aren't claiming that public health care will be
bad. Rather, they are terrified that the new system will be so good
that no citizen would buy expensive private insurance -- or vote for
politicians who wanted to take public insurance away.
Barack Obama's team is sending clear signals that health care reform
is a core economic issue, and the health insurance industry is
becoming increasingly anxious by the future administration's
determination to bring health care costs under control. Some Americans
are seeing their health care premiums rising at four times the rate of
inflation, if they have insurance at all. Health care reform is a
pocketbook issue for all of us, according to the Obama team.
In tough economic times, it might be tempting to postpone health care
reforms, but Obama is adamant that delay would be a false economy. In
the American Prospect, Joanne Kenen and Sarah Axeen support claims
about the high cost of doing nothing:
A recent report by the New America Foundation's health-policy program
estimates that the cost of doing nothing about health care, including
poor health and shorter lifespan of the uninsured, is well above $200
billion a year and rising. That's enough to cover the uninsured and
still have some left over for other public-health needs.
If health care costs continue to rise at their current rates, it will
cost $24,000 a year to insure a family of four by 2016, an 84 percent
increase from today. At these rates, half of American households would
have to spend at least 45 percent of their income to be insured.
In the Nation, Willa Thompson describes how a bicycle crash made her
appreciate the connection between health care and politics. Thompson
was 21 years old when she suffered major injuries after a collision
with a truck. Luckily, she was covered by her parents' medical
insurance until she turned 22. She later realized that if she had been
just a few months older when the accident happened, she wouldn't have
been able to pay for her medical care.
We all agree that something needs to be done. Let's briefly review the
options that have been proposed so far: Obama wants to provide health
care for all by requiring private insurance companies to cover
everyone, and he wants to create a public health insurance plan to
compete with private insurers. The second part of his plan, the public
option, is what Republican opponents are so scared of.
Insurance companies love the idea that we will all be forced to buy
their expensive product; they're not so keen about competition from
the public sector.
Ezra Klein writes, "If you're looking for the coming fault line on the
left of health care politics, keep an eye on what happens to the
public-insurance option in the health reform bill." Will the public
plan survive? Not if the Republicans and the insurance lobby have
anything to say about it. As evidence, Klein cites this passage from a
recent article in Congressional Quarterly:
Mark Hayes, a Republican health policy adviser to the Senate Finance
Committee, said Republicans have concerns because the government plan
might have access to price controls and other tools not available to
private insurers. This could lead to lower premiums in the government
plan, which would cause most consumers to migrate out of the private
market, he said. "Over time, the effect the government option could
have [is an] erosion in the private market, [making] other choices not
available," Hayes said.
The consensus among progressives is clear, the public plan must
prevail. In fact, many advocate going all the way to single-payer
health insurance. Rose Ann DeMoro, executive director of the
California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee
argues in the Progressive that Obama and Tom Daschle, Obama's pick for
health and human services secretary, should opt for single-payer
health insurance. Now is no time for piecemeal solutions:
Such a path would perpetuate the crisis and deal a cruel blow to the
hopes of Americans for real reform. Those in Congress and liberal
policy organizations who are embracing caution or promoting more
insurance, not more care, are playing a risky game. It could
jeopardize the health security of tens of millions of Americans and,
in the process, fatally erode public support for the Obama
administration.
Klein links to a candid post from the blog of the right-wing Cato
Institute, wherein Michael F. Cannon argues that blocking Obama's
health plan is the key to GOP survival. Why? Because, history shows
that once people start getting good health care from the government at
a price they can afford, they want to keep re-electing the politicians
who make that possible. Cannon calls the phenomenon where people
re-elect governments that give them good health care "becoming
dependent on the government," we call it "voting our self-interest."
In other health care news, public-health advocates are not pleased
about rumors that Obama may ask Mark Dybul to stay on as U.S. Global
AIDS Coordinator for the first year of Obama's term. Dybul is
responsible for implementing the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS
Relief, which funds AIDS prevention and treatment in 15 poor
countries. The advocates say that Dybul, a medical doctor, is too
focused on medical interventions and behavioral changes for
individuals and not sufficiently concerned with broader public-health
initiatives.
This post features links to the best independent, progressive
reporting about health care. Visit healthcare.NewsLadder.net for a
complete list of articles on health care, or follow us on Twitter. And
for the best progressive reporting on critical economy and immigration
issues, check out Economy.NewsLadder.net and
Immigration.NewsLadder.net. This is a project of the Media Consortium,
a network of 50 leading independent media outlets, and was created by
NewsLadder.