OK. It has come down to this week: Will Democrats, on their own, pass the start of what could be pivotal healthcare reform legislation? I am one who is hoping they will and will be hopping mad if they don’t. I am praying key Democratic Congressmen will vote for what’s good for the country and not worry only about some ultra-conservative in their district.
Is the legislation perfect? No. Have thousands of lobbyists for unions and every segment of healthcare spent millions of dollars crawling all over this? Yes.
Now, with the President pushing, it is “showtime.” Millions who are uninsured or underinsured can’t wait. A good illustration of this was in the newspaper this morning. With states in a financial jam they have cut back on Medicaid. Now many doctors have curtailed how many Medicaid patients they will see, if they will see any at all. With Medicaid in Michigan, for example, paying a doctor $25 for an office visit when even Medicare will pay more, the doctor can’t afford to see Medicaid patients – or at least not many. So that drives patients to either avoid care or get it at the most expensive place, the emergency room, and when they are sickest. Our broken system isn’t saving money, it just propels more cost and human suffering.
“Starting from scratch,” as the Republican leadership requests is not an option. We have spent a year getting to this point. It is true, if this legislation is passed, many provisions won’t take effect for years. And there is a lot to fix in subsequent legislation. But we must start. To have this country allow so many Americans to go without insurance and for insurance companies, working on a state-by-state basis, to have skyrocketing rates and often onerous policies is unconscionable.
There are many who may not agree with me. You will point to one part or another of the huge bill you don’t like. But what is the price of not doing something now? Isn’t it too much?
On our Patient Power programs we almost never talk about cost of treatments or access to care. But it is the “elephant in the room.”
When we meet again next week, I am hoping that issue has been addressed in a positive way head-on and we can move on to retooling a system devoted to prevention and, when people become sick, they – any American – can be confident they will get the quality care they need and deserve.
Please share your thoughts with me on this.
Wishing you and your family the best of health!
Andrew