The Atma of Politics
Universal American Health Care:
Great in Theory But How does it work?
[ OP-ED ]

At the very beginning of the 2008 presidential campaign, anyone who was watching the candidates even half-heartedly knew that the push for health care reform was on its way, one direction or the other. The soaring medical costs, the fact that people were living longer but with more medical issues, and the increase costs of elderly care have all contributed to the unnerving realization that our health care system as it stood could not maintain our country’s currently insured population let alone the roughly 47 million uninsured. The platform of healthcare reform was especially true in the Democratic Party, with all its candidates campaigning on health care reform and some sort of coverage for all Americans.

When President Barack Obama was sworn into office, in his acceptance speech he discussed the need for health care reform and health coverage for all Americans. Arguably, after the economic state of our country, health care reform has been the biggest topic being tackled in the first year of his presidency. President Obama has said time and again that our current system is failing our people and something needs to be done to rectify the situation. He has also advocated, vigorously, for a change in the system that would provide health care coverage for all those 47 million Americans who currently have none, as well as to lower medical costs to all Americans. He has been outspoken about not leaving children, or our veterans, or those with pre-existing conditions behind. He has also discussed making sure that employers help, if not totally cover their employees with insurance coverage. The president’s mandate, it seems, has been to make it our collective responsibility to make sure everyone is medically protected. The goal is, as it should be, to help protect us all. But, how do we get there?

The end result seems to be something that all good citizens have, to a large degree, agreed with. It is wonderful to think that everyone can be covered, if they want it. However, the overriding question inevitably is, how to work out legislation that manages to cover all Americans without cutting benefits to those already insured and keeping overall costs as low as possible. Some ideas that have been suggested are: 1) To tax (surcharge) the wealthy people of America (first the discussion was for taxing duel income couples making more than $500,000, then after backlash the number was raised to couples making $1,000,000 or more); 2) Cut certain current federal health programs like the recently implemented Children’s Health Insurance Program; 3) Creating a federal government-run insurance company to compete with private insurers; 4) Reduce Medicare spending in areas such as payments to hospitals and other health care providers; 5) Taxing/Penalizing employers for not covering their employees; and/or 6) Ending certain provisions of coverage like “end-of-life” care. This list of ideas is not exhaustive by any means and the outline continually changes based on the compromises and negotiations taking place in both houses of Congress and between Congress and the White House. The rough estimate of costs to this new Health Care Reform is $1 trillion over the next 10 years, and many are not happy about that.

The crux of the problem begins and ends with how to pay for the largest health legislation in over the last 50 years of our nation’s history. The goal of lowering health costs while also covering the roughly 47 million other Americans who do not have insurance is met with the execution concern of how to do it in a manner that will not continue to burden our already beaten economy and will not take away the coverage (or coverage benefits) of Americans who currently are insured. Moreover, many middle-class and wealthy Americans do not want to hear that the government is going to take more money or benefits from them during an already depressing time in order to cover others. Everybody has an opinion and nobody wants their opinion or views to be discounted.

The idea of national health care for all is not a new concept. Many politicos since the days of Theodore Roosevelt in 1912 have tried to accomplish a large scale, national, health care policy, with little major success. So what makes this time around any different? For one, health/medical care costs have increased considerably in recent years making payments difficult for even those with health insurance. Additionally, there is an overall sense in America that 47 million men, women, and children without coverage is unacceptable, especially when every other highly industrialized country in the world provides for national health care. Moreover, from a political perspective, the Democratic Party has one of the strongest overall edges it has had in years with a Democratic President and Democratic majorities in both Houses of Congress. Since Health Care Reform and a more comprehensive system of health has been part of the party’s platform, the fact that the Democrats are in power lends itself to prolific change on the matter.

However, even with all the above benefits and the character of the environment we live in which would suggest that reform is on the way, our country is moving with extreme caution towards any legislation. People are, understandably, afraid; afraid to lose their freedom to choose their health plans; afraid to lose the benefits that come from currently existing plans; afraid to lose their already dwindling incomes because of the recession; afraid that our economy will only sink deeper and deeper into an abyss of bankruptcy; and afraid that the changes being proposed, albeit altruistic, will only make matters worse. So the question is posed, how do we achieve the great American dream of nationalized health care? Maybe you can answer it!

---Dev B. Viswanath is a practicing attorney who is currently hosting a weekly political show called Desis & Politics which airs on Saturdays at 8:30 am and repeated on Sundays at 10:00 am on ITV/ITVGOLD in NY, NJ, and Conn. on Time Warner Cable (Channel 77 or 563), in NY and NJ on Cablevision (Channel 244), and in NY, Boston, Chicago, Washington, D.C., and Philadelphia on RCN (Channel 476) You can also watch previously aired programs at www.itvonweb.com . Please feel free to email Dev with your comments or suggestions at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

[ DEV B. VISWANATH ]