Kalamazoo Gazette
Friday, October 28, 2005
Remember back in the 1960s when many politicians were having apoplexy over the prospect of Medicare?
Pure socialism, they ranted. It’ll break the bank!
Well, it hasn’t yet, although it has become obvious that Medicare, the health-insurance program for senior citizens, and Medicaid, a companion federal-state program to aid the destitute of all ages, have become hugely expensive and require streamlining and reform.
Now comes Gov. Jennifer Granholm with a suggestion for a national health plan. Is that a risky strategy for Granholm’s campaign for re-election next year?
Maybe not. This is Michigan, after all, and our auto industry is hurting. The big news recently is that Toyota will open a second auto manufacturing plant in Woodstock, Ontario, in 2008.
Toyota executives decided to forgo hundreds of millions of dollars in subsidies from several American states in favor of erecting their new plant less than 25 miles from its second Ontario plant and skilled workforce in Cambridge. It is expected that the new plant will bring well-paying jobs to 1,300 workers who would make 100,000 vehicles annually.
Often, in this space, we have called attention to the importance of a community having skilled workers. That’s why Michigan thrived for so many decades. The Japanese place a great importance on the abilities of the Canadian workers, much more so apparently than they did on those in southern states vying for the new plant.
The Toyota people also are aware of health-care costs. It was reported that because Canada has a taxpayer-supported national health insurance program that covers all citizens regardless of age, Toyota could save $4 to $5 an hour in benefits. Fortunately, the U.S. auto manufacturers and the labor unions have reached agreement on a new contract, which includes health-care provisions.
In America, excellent health care is available for seniors when they reach 65, affluent people who are covered by some type of private policy, or public health insurance for the very poor. But it’s different for tens of millions of our working poor. Many of them, honest and hard-working people, have lost everything they have to an expensive illness. In this land of plenty, that’s disgraceful.
All of these facts have not been lost on Granholm. The governor said Monday that some form of a national health care program — perhaps beginning with the use of public funds to take care of catastrophic costs for citizens of all ages — could be a starter.
Years ago, heads of big corporations and a lot of conservatives would have been aghast over such a plan. But, today, employee health-care insurance premiums are eating many industries alive.
Some otherwise unlikely allies could decide to receive Granholm’s notion with at least a modicum of enthusiasm.
