The Boston Globe
5/21/2003
Democrats must offer bolder health plans
By Robert Kuttner
With one exception, the health plans released by the Democratic presidential contenders are a set of little plans. They leave the current system largely intact and use subsidies and tax credits to reduce the number of uninsured — as if the whole system were not broken.
What is the nature of the health care crisis? For starters, coverage is eroding, even for the insured. There’s a squeeze on corporate profits in a climate of rising health costs. So health costs are being shifted from plan to individual, with the result that many people go without needed treatments that the plan won’t cover and that they can’t afford out of pocket.
The number of people without insurance is also increasing. Smaller businesses won’t provide insurance. More people are self-employed. And as bigger businesses increase the employee share costs, many lower-paid workers decline the insurance because they can’t afford it.
If we leave intact the present system, with its wasteful fragmentation, billing, underwriting, and insurance company profits, there is only one big place to reap savings — by withholding more care as nonessential and by avoiding the sick.
The best solution here is national health insurance. We already have it for one segment of the population, through Medicare. The program is easy to understand, and even fits on a bumper sticker: ”Medicare for all.”
Face it: Even incremental proposals by Democrats will be attacked as too costly and entailing too much government. They might as well do it right.
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/141/oped/Democrats_must_offer_bolder_health_plans+.shtml
Comment: Why is this a partisan issue? Democrats are interested in ensuring access to affordable, comprehensive health care for everyone, or at least they should be. Republicans are interested in sound business principles which reduce administrative waste and contain costs, or at least they should be.
The one exception alluded to in Kuttner’s article that is not a “little plan” is the single payer proposal of Rep. Dennis Kucinich. It is the only proposal that offers the solutions that both Democrats and Republicans are seeking, even though the specific objectives may not be the same. But should a proposal that would successfully address the concerns or one political persuasion be rejected merely because it also addresses the concerns of the opposing party?
It is true that rhetorical disputes over abstract ideology continue to defeat rational proposals. But when we have an opportunity to adopt reform that provides a meeting ground for those advocating for a sound business approach to reform and for those advocating for health care justice, isn’t it time to set aside the superficiality of rhetorical debate, especially when so many lives are at stake?