US Health Care: Window of Opportunity in 2008?

"Really, how did American workers become the last people in any industrialized democracy to be subject to such anxiety about paying for medical care? They already fund the health care of retirees, the poor, the disabled, convicts and government employees, including members of Congress. Their taxes pay for everyone's health care except their own."

Froma Harrop, editor and columnist, Providence Journal (Rhode Island)--

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Although its been beaten back before by the forces of big drug companies and private health insurance lobbies, it may be time next year to have real reform in health care policy.

In part I believe this is possible first off because middle-class families are more and more squeezed out of their positions of economic stability by tuition costs and the falling rate of equity in many parts of the USA coming as a result of the subprime housing crisis. People change their minds when things get better or worse and it looks like whoever is elected President next November is going to have to do something about the economic drain on many hard-working and professional class families. Health care is a big part of that.

The value of denying all but absolute emergency access to health care for the forty million or so who can't afford or get a decent health plan is something that may no longer be fudged off as free market "collateral damage" if the average middle class husband and wife (and two kids or so) feel they are falling too far behind to have the somewhat secure lifestyle their parents enjoyed.

Also, the rising costs of doing business in a global society make it more imperative that we give business a break from such a large share of insuring its workers health needs. The free market can be a wonderful thing on most matters of economic growth, but its far from perfect when it comes protecting the most vital of all values--the chance to live a life free from inadequate health care or the fear that the next illness in the family will bring everything mom and dad worked for crashing down.

Consider this alarming stat:

Only 45 percent (Source: BLS) of private-sector employees are covered by or participate in employer-sponsored programs, employers who provide health insurance benefits experienced on average cost of $3,80 per hour for participating employees in 2003. That cost has more than doubled in four years.

(Source: Employment Policy Foundation, Employment Trends)

We spend about fifteen percent of our total GDP on health care inthis country--more than any other major nation-- and still we have millions of working people and their kids who can't access the health care system, plus all the people who are underinsured and/or can't get themselves or their kids insured because of pre-existing conditions. Big companies like General Motors have to jettison health care plans off to try and compete with countries like Germany and Japan that do offer health care for all individuals.

Isn't it time for some pragmatism here? Can we ever get beyond the libertarian/conservative vs. liberal/progressive situation and come up with a basic tier health care service for all citizens? Other countries have done this, why the hell can't we?

There is a another caveat to all this. No plan will work in America unless it is not only affordable for more Americans, but also that it is not "free" in the sense that sick adults cannot continue to be obese or smoke or consume too much alcohol and then have the taxpayer foot the bill for their mistakes.

To stay insured in a basic plan, I think an individual who was previously underinsured or denied care due to an existing condition needs to develop behavioral improvement from whatever food or substance abuse is harming them. That's going to take some hard judgement calls but I think it must be factored into the program. I feel we must encourage better eating habits threough taxes on fatty foods, have regular exercise periods encouraged for people of all ages, and make the cost of smoking cigarettes onerous for those who insist on not protecting their bodies.

The USA should join the rest of the developed world and finally have health care of all citizens. Maybe next year we'll finally get going toward that standard.