Major Health Care Reform Issues

Should a public option be included in the health care bill?

            The majority of the Democrats believe that the people they represent want a public option to help drive down the cost of health insurance.  A public option is some form of non-profit, government subsidized insurance.  This option would control the cost of health care by offering a plan which would be affordable to currently uninsured people.  It would also allow tax breaks for those Americans who still would be unable to pay this more reasonable cost of insurance.  They also believe that without a public option there can be no real health care reform.  Lobbyists from the insurance industry have been pouring their money into Washington to stop the public option and protect their monopolies.  The public option would help out millions of uninsured Americans that do not currently have any form of health care insurance.

            Their have been many attempts throughout history to improve the availability of health care in the United States.  The first attempt was as early as 1912 with Teddy Roosevelt trying to include a health care platform.  A major change came when Lyndon B. Johnson managed to push through Medicare and Medicaid program in 1965.  In  the early 90’s, President Clinton put forward a health care reform plan, but it failed to pass Congress.  Efforts along these lines continue with the current Obama administration.  The majority of Democrats are behind the President in his efforts to pass the current health care reform bill. 

            In an interview with health care reform liaison, Lorna Hayden, she stated, “The health care debate about how to best make affordable, quality insurance available to the 45 million uninsured and underinsured has dominated U.S. law makers for the entire first year of the Obama Presidency.  The progressive, far left members of Congress originally asked for a ‘single-payer option’ which exists in many modern industrialized nations.  This is often referred to as ‘socialized medicine’.  The idea of a public option was put forth as a compromise between the far left and right wing ideas about health care reform.”  She also pointed out that judging by their voting, the right wing Republicans see no need to change the private health care plans. 

             The senate passed its version of the health care bill in early February 2010.  The Democrats, White house and rank-and-file members of Congress have been working around the clock to find things in common in order to keep the health care bill moving forward.  Senior Democratic sources said they would override the traditional legislative process during the final health care deliberations.  As of March 11, 2010 the Democrats have done exactly that.  They have suspended the possibility of a filibuster by using the reconciliation process.  The final House version may be passed as early as next week.  Although Obama agreed with the move to override the traditional legislative process, the Democrats still have different ideas on what the final bill should look like.  The difference between the House health care bill and the Senate is about five percent of the content.  The public option is among the five percent that makes up the difference.  Obama is assuring that if there is not a public option included in the final bill, anyone without insurance will have the option to be covered at reasonable cost.  Staying up one night in late December, the President watched the Senate take a key vote on the healthcare bill, and said that there is so much good in the bill, that he is confident it will be passed.  The main question is whether the congressional leadership can convince most Democrats and a few Republicans or Independents to support the plan. 

            A public option should be included in the health care reform bill.  This is because it seems to be the plan most likely to control rapidly rising insurance rates and reduce the huge number of uninsured people.  This will help individual people but will also reduce the pressures towards inflation caused by these uncontrolled costs.   

Opposition to any plan, especially one including any public option has been soundly rejected by the Republican minority leadership.  Also, the Republicans have held their members in a solid voting bloc with everyone opposing the current plan.  Basically, they see the need for very little change in our current health care system.  At the very least, they want to throw out the “Obama Plan” and start over again from scratch. 

In the near future, the health care bill will be passed and sent on to the President for signing into law.  However, the final version will be watered down considerably compared to the original bills passed in each chamber.  The final plan will most likely contain some elements of the public option, but may not closely resemble the original plans for a public option.  More than likely it will forbid denial of coverage based on pre-existing conditions and the dropping of coverage by the insurance company when a client becomes ill.  Credo action is a liberal grass roots group that is attempting to organize a popular movement to demand that the House and Senate truly represent the people and include a public option in the final version of the health care bill.  They are asking people to write or telephone their representatives and tell them to support the public option. 

If you’re interested in following the outcome of the health care debate you can go to the White House website.  This will give an overview of the health care bill and current news of what is being done with it.