Part 2
8. So how did we get to this point? -
Well
Teddy Roosevelt wanted to start National Health Insurance program
running for a third term in the Progressive Bull Moose Party....but the
1912 elections got in the way (he lost)
Later Franklin D. Roosevelt wanted to try something similar as part of his New Deal......but World War II got in the way
Then
President Richard Nixon and Sen.Edward Kennedy had an idea to create
something similar to Obama's plan in 1972....but two scandals (Nixon's
Watergate and Kennedy's Chappaquiddick) got in the way
Then Hillary Clinton offered up a plan for universal health coverage....but William Kristol got in the way. Who?
Next time the health system fails you. You can thank him
Legend
has it as a compromise to Hillarycare, President Bill Clinton and
Republican Senate Minority Leader Bob Dole would craft legislation
involving much of the same things in today's health care reform. Bill
Kristol was the chief Republican strategist who advised then Sen. Dole
they could score political points and win the 1994 election by
demonizing the health care reform instead of cooperating on a
bi-partisan solution.
Dole listened to Kristol, the health
care reform failed, the Republicans won the 1994 election. But it also
brought us to where we are today where Republicans and the Billionaire
Conservative sugar daddies who bankroll them placing value on
short-term political victories over the long-term public good. An old
adage states politics is about winning the day but governance is about
winning the future. Thanks to people like Bill Kristol and Karl Rove,
the hyperfocus on politics along with the cynicism and shortsightedness
that it breeds have allowed the Healthcare Blob to grow to epic
proportions where the free market may not be able to solve the problem
by itself anymore.
The irony is what Obama proposed was
essentially a Republican idea born out of a conservative think-tank
called The Heritage Foundation. The concept of an Individual Mandate
was that we are responsible for own health care costs, but the creation
of a health insurance exchange could help people without employer
based coverage find affordable health insurance and make sure everyone
had medical coverage. The reason conservatives liked this idea was
because it preserved private, free enterprise system of healthcare
while providing a social safety net without the need for universal
health care. It's what Mitt 'Any Which Way the Wind Blows' Romney
instituted in Massachusetts as Governor, you know when he championed
healthcare reform before he was against it. Or was he against it first,
then for it when convenient as Governor, now back against it? With him
who the hell knows.
9. So without Obamacare how would this movie end? One ending is the worst case scenario -
The
Gen'Xers and Y'ers and Millenials and any other 'ers who come after
would like to help sustain Medicare through our payroll taxes. But
since the 2008 economic crash (brought on by Boomers) sort of destroyed
the concept that getting good education begets getting a good job at
this rate the medical costs of the old won't be able to be paid for by
the young thus starting a vicious chain reaction.....
When
health care costs escalate to where employers both big and small
decide the costs of paying health insurance aren't worth the tax
deductions providing employees health insurance. Note I mentioned in #2
health insurance comprises 16% of total employee costs. The magic
number or tipping point for this to occur is estimated by Economists at
30%. So they turn 'employees' into 'contractors' where legally they
don't have provide benefits...
And workers are left
without employer coverage face huge Individual health insurance
premiums that are more expensive than a mortgage....
And workers then have to spend all their money on expensive Individual health insurance premiums instead of consumer items....
And because nobody buys anything that causes economy to tank and Wall Street turns into claptrap....
And
the banksters and baron robbers in the 1% who spearheaded the
Obamacare takedown in Supreme Court in the first place to start losing
all their wealth too.
10. The other alternate ending: Within 20 years the United States institutes Medicare For All -
I
said earlier conservatives would be thankful Obamacare was upheld and
here's why. In talking to my Public Health professor for my graduate
classes, what Obama's plan represented was really a last ditch effort to
save the private insurance industry from the Healthcare Blob.
Previously things like Health Maintenance Organizations, Managed Care,
Evidenced Based Care, Patient Centered Homes, Wellness Incentives, etc.
and all the other industry buzz words and initiatives have failed to
halt the advance of escalating health care costs.
The goal
of Obamacare was to bend the medical cost curve downward causing the
Healthcare Blob to retreat and eventually get it down to a manageable
size. All the while preserving a free enterprise, capitalistic health
system which frees up revenue for private employers to invest in jobs
instead of health insurance. And the tax revenues from those jobs could
be freed from paying rising Medicare costs for public investment on
things like schools, and infrastructure. The kind of public investment
that mark a civilized, modern, advanced society.
Regardless
of rich or poor, young or old, Democrat or Republican, Tea Party or
Occupy Wall Street, White or Bluecollar, 1% or 99%. All of us are at
risk of being eaten by the 'The Healthcare Blob'. While the Obama plan
wasn't perfect, it's a start. Republicans have the opportunity to
either part of the solution or be part of the problem by continuing to
be an obstacle on the path to health care reform. Eventually relief
from high medical costs will become a bi-partisan demand. The latest
Gallup poll shows only 17% of Americans think our current healthcare
system is fine, the vast majority 83% believe healthcare reform is
needed even among majority of Republicans who do not like Obama's plan.
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