New Bedford Standard Times

 

The process of reforming health care becomes more maddening by the minute. Although I support President Barack Obama, I am frustrated with his continued efforts to achieve a bipartisan agreement with the forces on the right, who clearly have no interest in real reform.

He's like a well-meaning kid on the playground trying to make friends with the bullies. I want to just say, "Forget it. They don't want to play with you. These bullies want to protect the swelling profits of the health-care industry. They foster confusion and distrust of government."

Encouragement has also been given to some of the nastiest fringe elements among us. The Republicans and Blue Dog Democrats don't want to bite the hand that feeds them.

The health-care industry spends millions in campaign contributions. So they try to stall, block or water down reform. Kent Conrad, a North Dakota senator, was pushing co-ops, which would do little to change anything. Coincidentally, he has received $828,000 from the insurance coffers.

Now we have the Max Baucus bill, which is supposed to represent an effort toward bipartisan agreement. Wendell Potter, a former Cigna Insurance executive whose conscience got the better of him, calls this a gift to the insurance companies. It mandates that the uninsured purchase private health insurance with limited coverage but an expensive price tag.

Potter maintains that this will not just threaten, but ensure bankruptcy for the working poor. If people can't pay ( I think the cutoff is $68,000 for a family of four), the government will pay for them. Thus, the insurance companies get millions of new customers, subsidized by the government. In payment for this, the insurance giants will continue to provide their huge campaign contributions.

Baucus was the recipient of the largest insurance campaign contributions of anyone in Congress — $3 million since 2003.

I just don't understand how some people can sleep at night. It's estimated that 14,000 Americans will continue to lose insurance coverage every single day. And according to a recent Harvard University study, 45,000 people die each year due to a lack of coverage. This is the real health care rationing that takes place.

Opponents also claim that it will fund abortions, which it does not. Why don't these "pro-life" voices cry out about the 9 million children without health coverage? When women receive no prenatal care, their babies face mortality rates six times the rate of those whose mothers have insurance to receive such care. Where are the supposedly "pro-life" voices?

The obstructionists complain that the government shouldn't be involved in their health care. Yet they're willing to allow insurance companies to deny payment for one out of five treatments doctors order.

As for me, I'd rather have the government step in to curb the voracious appetites of the insurance companies. They've already reaped a 428 percent increase in profits in the years from 2000 to 2007. And how do they do this? By denying coverage to their subscribers for "pre-existing conditions," putting caps on coverage, terminating coverage for those who happened to get really sick, increasing premiums and deductibles, and paying themselves $25 million or more a year in salaries, plus stock options.

Despite the enormity of this health care crisis, many are afraid that we can't afford to change the situation. Actually, we can't afford to let it continue. Health-care costs rose three times faster than wages. Our health-care costs are straining the budgets of families and driving many into bankruptcy. This crisis not only endangers the lives of those without health insurance, but also threatens those who suddenly get the rug pulled out from under them when their insurance provider refuses to cover a serious illness.

In addition, the United States spends 17 percent of its entire gross domestic product on health care, compared to the average 10 percent in other industrialized nations. This 17/10 percent disparity with other nations also undermines our ability to compete in the global economy.General Motors spends more on health care than on steel!

Single-payer insurance, like Medicare for all, would have controlled these costs most dramatically. However this was never put on the bargaining table. At the very least, we need a public option to create meaningful reform. A public option would force the insurance companies to behave more honestly and humanely for their subscribers. Plus it would provide affordable insurance for those without any coverage.

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