Let’s take a break from the strange spectacle that has come to be known as the “Sonia Sotomayor Confirmation Hearings” to examine a debate the becomes more histrionic and less reasonable with each passing day: Health Care.
Obama has now released his Health Care Reform Plan, and the media apparatus for both sides is spinning up into panic-inducing overdrive, with one side telling us that failure to reform the system will cause the complete destruction of the American economy, and the other side…telling us that that passing the reforms will cause us to lapse into a communist/totalitarian state where everyone will die because of bureaucratic inertia or from being forced to go to substandard doctors.
In this day and age, it still surprises me that SO MANY people believe every email they are sent, and what every partisan news source or pundit tells them. So…here are my helpful guidelines for surviving the discussion with your sanity and dignity intact:
1) Learn to Recognize the Rhetoric: When you hear words like “all,” or “every,” or “never“…what you are hearing is likely a gross exaggeration. They might say “nobody will want to be a doctor anymore, because they won’t get paid anything.” That’s funny…the lobbying group representing the doctors of our country (the same lobbying group that killed previous attempts at reforming the system), the AMA, just endorsed the plan wholeheartedly, and without expressing a single concern. Included in these deceptions are obvious examples of “doomsday” predictions. For example, when your friend sends you that email that states, “millions of senior will die needlessly under the old plan,” you ought to be skeptical…you ought to realize that this is an old scare tactic. Also, beware the “slippery slope” argument: “if we agree to this now…in just a few years it’ll be a completely state-run, single-payer system!“ These “worst-case progressions” rarely come to pass, and the truth is that every few years we get new leaders in the White House and the Congress…the balance of power continually shifts and there is little that can be done that cannot be amended or undone. Here’s another example of hyperbole, taking a graphic form:
House Minority Leader Boehner released this chart…careful inspection should reveal to anyone that it is needlessly and intentionally confusing (he has entities listed on the chart that will have absolutely NOTHING to do with the Health Care process)…and one should also consider that the current system is equally complex:
Which brings me to my next point…
2) Remember that the Current System…Isn’t Working: Under the current system, the millions of uninsured can go in whenever they need emergency treatment…which they often need because they can’t afford any PREVENTATIVE treatment. These emergency services are provided…and at a high cost. That cost is passed on to EVERYONE else who actually does have insurance in the form of higher premiums, higher medication cost, and high prices tags on procedures. Ever look at your bill and wonder why a simple blood test costs hundreds of dollars? It’s because you are paying for your blood test and several other peoples’ blood tests…several other uninsured people. The rich, they can afford these built-in costs and can obtain whatever services they need, but for the middle-class…it’s financial Armageddon. If a member of the middle-class, the vast number of people living check to check, has any significant health problem, the first things they will have to deal with is their insurer’s attempts to get out of paying the bill, and then what remains is likely a debt that will either bankrupt them or put them in a long-term debt scenario.
3) Let’s Not Put Insurance Companies on a Pedestal: The critics warn that you will be left in the hands of “bureaucrats?“ They obviously have never tried dealing with the bureaucrats at the other end of the phone when you try to deal with your private insurer. They say “do you really trust the government to run something so large?“ The government manages ANY NUMBER of systems that large AND LARGER each day…just look at the nation’s military. I’ve hear just as many cases of insurance companies, losing paperwork, making mistakes, and giving people the runaround as have heard regarding the government…PLUS…when the government does these things they are more easily brought to account. When an insurance company screws you…their approach is “go somewhere else.” Go to the media? They are SO BIG and SO POWERFUL…they don’t care. Want to take them to court? Hope you happen to have a few million tucked away for court costs because otherwise I GUARANTEE they can outspend and outlast you in litigation. These companies have a long history of granting bonuses to employees who deny claims, hiring investigators to find reasons why they can deny your claim, and making profits in the billions while doing it.
4) Consider the Source of the Counter-Arguments: If you’ve heard criticism of the plan…and you trace it back far enough…past the media personality who said it on TV…past the congressional staffer who leaked it to the press…past the legislator who told the staffer to do it…you’ll find a health industry lobbyist. These people have one job and one job alone and that is to make sure that the current system, with all its faults, DOES NOT CHANGE. They do this through the simple act of lining the pockets of legislators in all houses of local and federal legislatures. They’ve even hired hundreds of former legislators and insiders so that they will have the easy inside track. Even Tom Daschle, Obama’s first pick for Health Secretary doesn’t want it to happen…and for the same reason that he could never be confirmed as Health Secretary: because HE is in the pocket of the industry.
5) Know What the Program is NOT: Nobody has called for “socialized medicine“…so stop with the nonsense about becoming “commies,” and your criticisms of the government-run systems of other countries (although on that note…Canadians have named Tommy Douglas their “Most Important Person.” Learn who that is.) Your taxes are not going to triple…so stop with all the claims that “we might as well live in France.“ The government is not going to control which doctor you see or which treatments you can have…at least not any more than your current insurer does, and probably less. If you want…read the actual plan, taking into account that we are still in the beginning changes of the process and it is likely to undergo substantive further revision. Even better…check out a number of sources:
- Here’s the White House’s Health Care Site
- Here is a Wall Street Journal article on the subject…
- The Health Care Blog has an EXCELLENT detailed summary.
- The New York Times recently endorsed the plan…here’s what they had to say.
At a minimum…stay informed…be skeptical…be reasonable…and consider the source. And when you are in doubt, very reasonable given the complexity of the issue…it is best to LISTEN rather than to repeat what others have said.