They say the animal designed by committee is an elephant. Health care reform has gone through many a committee mill of Washington DC lobbyists and the like. It may have come out an elephant in the form of the Republican mascot, the elephant. Republicans may take many seats in November.
Sad, because Obama's heart is in the right place.
Many folks deride Obama's plans calling it "Obama care." Even blaming Obama Care for another large hike in insurance premiums this year. Well, how can we blame Obama care? Seems like insurance premiums have been rising every year.
Yes, there may be some problems with health care reform's attempts to prevent insurance companies from knocking more costly sicker people off the insurance roles; thus passing higher costs of their care onto other policy holders. This may account for some of the rate hikes, but huge rate hikes happened in previous years anyway.
If Republicans succeed in repealing Obama Care, rates will continue to rise most likely. More will go without insurance. Maybe, by year 2014 (the year Obama's main plans would have gone into effect) less than half American workers will have health insurance. Private plans will be dropping people like flies.
This is partially because the post war baby boom is getting older.
The problem could get so bad that there will be more political capital to do something about it. Political favors may swing strongly in favor of Democrats again, in time for 2012.
As more and more folks go without, we will need something that Obama Care was planing toward 2014. Subsidized premiums for those who can't afford health insurance.
Sliding scale. Yes, tax the wealthy. Also we might even get single payer.
Maybe the subsidized premiums should have been loaded in on the front end of Obama Care, 2010 and 2011, rather than toward 2014. Then more people could be under the tent thus keeping healthier folks in the insurance pool. As premiums rise, many folks just drop insurance, usually leaving the insurance pool less healthy on average.
Rather than try to straight jacket insurance providers into not dropping sicker than average patients, the early years should have provided some of the subsidies to keep people in the insurance pools. Yes, tax the wealthy.
Those who are very sick among us often end up not being able to work anyway, so disability becomes the insurance provider.
Also, since the cost of health care is swamping us, we should all try to be more healthy. Watch what you eat, get moderate exercise. Folks in the industry, from corporate execs to the local providers must be more reasonable in expectation of their salaries and profits.
Elephants conjure up images of obesity.
If I could draw, here would be my cartoon idea
Health care reform package, strapped together with duct tape and things likely to fall off. The body of a horse drawn carriage.
Potholes ahead in the road; like Republican Congresses.
Destination for most of the goods, 2014.
As carriage passes sign saying "2014, 4 years away." Driver remarks, "I hope this holds together till then."
I still support the idea of health care reform, but see a lot of potential potholes. Glad they're trying to do something, as daunting a task as it may seem.
2 comments:
Actually the saying is the camel is a horse designed by a committee.
Yeah, U.S. politics is so weird now with things that are just plain untrue being repeated enough that it appears to be. Thank Reagan for that when he got rid of laws that prevented media ownership concentration.
Anyway, I grew up in a Canadian province in which the democratic socialist party was in power and we had an still have medicare and it was really good. In fact one of the reasons that I am intelligent and healthy is because of that.
I don't see anything wrong with government providing the people with services. In fact that's their job.
It's really sad in the States where you pretty well only have the choice of right wing or extreme right wing.
That's right. I remember hearing it both ways, or at least 2 common sayings.
We have NPR and a few other voices of common sense and I also find myself listing to CBC Radio from Canada a lot. Too much of our media does cater to conservatives. Good thing we have the internet to reach around the crap.
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