Health
Care Reform Update: Good or Bad? You Decide!
by Alta Price, M.D.I had thought about writing an article on conference committee procedures, since that is the next step in the health care reform bill process. After reading a front page story about it at DailyKos, I discovered it is incredibly complex and confusing, the leadership has many different approaches they could choose, and I don’t think it is worth deciphering at this point. (If you want to try to figure it out, be my guest: “More details on what’s next for health insurance reform”.)
Speaking of confusing, I read convincing articles about how bad this health care reform bill is for the future of our democracy (and this from progressives!), only to read other articles with equally cogent arguments that the bill is a great first step on the road to quality affordable health care for all.
Honestly, I don’t know what to tell you. No doubt part of the problem is this bill is big and ambitious and no one really knows how it will play out over the coming years. Until we have more to go on, the best we can do is to consider thoughtfully different viewpoints. So this week I decided to offer a few interesting takes for you to read on your own.
The piece I found most fascinating is a diary posted at DailyKos by someone living in France (French Imp) – “HCR Bill – a Frenchman’s Viewpoint”. I don’t know about you, but after seeing Sicko I decided the French have to have the best health care system in the world. But really, I only had the vaguest notion of how it really works.
First the author talks about how the system was set up at the end of World War II by an influential organization that grew out of the French resistance movement. Health care is paid for by “La Sécurité Sociale”. It did not start life as a universal system:
I knew on some level that the French system is not run by their government, although apparently La Sécurité Sociale is subsidized by the government (which is in arrears on what it owes). I certainly didn’t understand who does run it!
It has its own budget and is managed jointly (on a 50-50 basis) by trade unions and employer’s organizations. In fact the employers are united and the trade unions are divided so that for all practical purposes the employers prevail, but they can’t do exactly what they would like to do.
And it is paid for by “social contributions” from the employers that go directly to La Sécurité Social:
Although the article is long, it is worth reading in its entirety. The author makes a strong case for our own health insurance expansion bill being an important step on the road to a better system.
For a good read on why the Senate bill is a disaster for our democracy, I would suggest reading “Health Care on the Road to Neo-Feudalism” by Marcy Wheeler at empytwheel.
For an insightful view on the reasons for the vastly divergent opinions in progressive circles on the health care reform bill, as well as other issues, read “The underlying divisions in the healthcare debate” by Glenn Greenwald at Salon.
Even if you are in the “kill the bill” crowd, when you contact your legislators you can also ask them to make the bill better (increased subsidies for the middle class, tougher insurance regulations, and not taking away reproductive services from women) as the bill will probably become law. I think it is still important to push for a public option to be brought forward as a separate bill under the reconciliation process (i.e., only needing 51 votes to pass). And we can work on reforming the Senate to modify the filibuster if we want to accomplish anything progressive in the future.
Alta
Price is a physician practicing Pathology in Davenport, Iowa. One of
the original Deaniacs, she stays involved with Democracy for America,
Iowa, and the Quad Cities. She advocates for quality, affordable health
care for all, primarily as a volunteer with Progressive Action for the
Common Good (Health Care Reform Issue Forum). Watch for Dr. Price's Health Care Reform Update every Tuesday here on Blog for Iowa. E-Mail Alta Price
Blog For Iowa 