Rx for Rx. The Start of Health Care Reform.

One of the largest domestic policy issues President Barack Obama capitalized on during the 2008 Presidential campaign was the issue of reforming health care.

America has the most expensive health care system in the world, a system with amazing medical, biological and technological advances, systems and research. The disparity is the cost of health care in America – the rapidly growing costs create a huge number of Americans to be without any health care access.

In a 2007 study, the Commonwealth Fund found, “The cost of health care in the United States poses health risks. More than 30 percent of adults in the United States report some cost-related barrier to needed care. If the person has a chronic disease, the percentage increases to 42 percent. This is nearly five times higher than in the United Kingdom.” And, this was before the start of the current economic crisis.

Employer-provided health care has shrunk due to consistent cost increases to provide coverage. Coupled with shrinking employment and a loss of consumer confidence – more and more Americans find themselves with no health care coverage for themselves and their families.

The Clinton Administration’s 1993 attempt to begin the creation of universal coverage in the US collapsed and never made it through the legislative process. The failure of this effort came from the Clinton administration’s failure to include Congressional members on all sides of the issue in the creation of the health care reform proposal and the heavy opposition from multiple special interests including health care insurers, doctors, pharmaceutical and other business interests.

On Thursday in the White House, President Obama launched the beginning of the health care reform debate he promised during the 2008 campaign. More than 150 participants attended the President’s health care reform forum and the group included key Congressional members, business, health care, insurance and consumer organizations on all sides of the health care reform discussion.

One of the issues President Obama made clear in his comments to the attendees was his hope the creation of health care reform legislation would be open and flexible. The President acknowledged the health care proposal he had unveiled during the campaign was not what he expected at the end of this process.

The President said, “During the campaign, I put forward a plan for health care reform. I thought it was an excellent plan. But I don’t presume it was a perfect plan or that it was the best possible plan.”

Health care reform is going to be the most challenging legislative effort led by the President. The economic costs of health care to business are huge; the uncovered care costs are a massive burden to federal, state and local governments. The lack of coverage for people throughout the country is shocking and the impact to families is devastating.

At the end of the day, health care reform efforts usually boil down to an ideological one, not a policy debate on health care.

There is an ideological battle coming about any creation of a government backed health care system. Republicans hold up a nationalized health care system as the ultimate demonstration that Democrats want to socialize health care and indeed, all of American business. The battle becomes an all or none discussion about the role of government and not the intent of trying to find a way to provide some basic level of healthcare to all Americans.

What gets lost in this shrill debate is the idea that all Americans should be entitled to basic care. Interests that feel they loose out in the creation of a subsidized national health care system use media and communication to scare Americans lucky enough to have insurance coverage that they would have to give up their care and have “government tell them what doctor they can see and government will tell them what medicine they can take.”

In the midst of a national economic crisis where more and more Americans are losing access to health care, while a large wave of Baby Boomers begin entering retirement and needing more care, the discussion will be much different than it was in 1993.
To his credit, President Barack Obama is starting the debate in an open matter, giving Congress the room it is going to need to negotiate and deliver a version of health care reform that will clearly not provide all answers but might be a good building block for a foundation meeting the needs of growing, aging and uncovered population needing more health care services.

The Washington Post and The New York Times both had small mentions about the first sighting of gray hair belonging to President Obama, only after 2 months on the job! Health care reform will certainly speed the color change and I do not believe hair care color will be a covered benefit under any health care reform proposal.