The First Bill

Essentially, there are three bills kicking around Congress right now to address the issue of health care coverage in this country. The first is America's Affordable Health Choices Act. The second is The Healthy Americans Act. The third is the United States National Health Care Act.

The first bill , which we will talk about today, is the one introduced by Ted Kennedy in the Senate and is also making the rounds in the House with Rep Dingell. It is also known as HR 3200. The bill requires that all American have health insurance similar to how all Americans must have auto insurance. Here are some of the highlights of the bill.

• Eliminating the Medicare Part D “donut hole” to help seniors. Each year, Seniors are forced to pay their full drug costs, despite having Part D drug coverage. The legislation would provide them with immediate relief, cutting brand name drug costs in the donut hole by 50%, and ultimately eliminate the donut hole.
• Relieving the burden of uncompensated care for hospitals and health care providers. Detractors of the bill don't like to talk about this one. The fact is that we are already spending taxpayer money on people who can't afford health insurance. This bill would end that as everyone would be insured.
  
• No deficit spending. The cost of health care reform under the legislation is fully paid for: half through making the Medicare and Medicaid program more efficient by eliminating waste and half through a surtax on the income of the wealthiest individuals aka the top one percent.
  
• Help for small businesses. Under the legislation, small businesses with 25 employees or less and average wages of less than $40,000 qualify for tax credits of up to 50% of the costs of providing health insurance. Don't believe the bullshit lie of the right that government run health care will ruin small business. It won't. What will ruin it is these same small businesses having to pay increase after increase...year after year.
  
• The bill provides health insurance for almost every American and provides common sense limits on annual out-of-pocket costs at $10,000 per year, ensuring that no citizen will have to face financial ruin because of high health care costs.

For some bizarre reason, the right's first beef with this bill was that it would force elderly citizens into euthanasia...a classic "fear-shit your pants" maneuver on a very small part of the bill. The reality is explained quite will in this Washington Post article.

The controversy stems from a proposal to pay physicians who counsel elderly or terminally ill patients about what medical interventions they would prefer near the end of life and how to prepare instructions such as living wills. Under the plan, Medicare would reimburse doctors for one session every five years to confer with a patient about his or her wishes and how to ensure those preferences are followed. The counseling sessions would be voluntary.

But on right-leaning radio programs, religious e-mail lists and Internet blogs, the proposal has been described as "guiding you in how to die," "an ORDER from the Government to end your life," promoting "death care" and, in the words of antiabortion leader Randall Terry, an attempt to "kill Granny."

What part of the word "voluntary" doesn't the right understand? I guess words only have meaning when they like the meaning.

The bill has gone through many changes and I'm sure it will continue to evolve. This is the plan that President Obama favors and stands the best chance of passing. But is it a good bill?

For the most part, yes. The core of this bill is to offer the public another option--an option that will compete with private insurers. I think this is a good thing because it puts the control back in the hands of the individual. If you are spending too much money on health insurance every month...something that will not likely change as virtually all insurance companies won't lower their prices...you now have a public option. If you don't like the public option and can afford to spend a little more money, you can keep your private insurance. No one is going to force you to do anything.

Another criticism of this bill is that it will drive insurance companies out of business. To those who say this, I say...take a look at the profits of Amazon.com or Barnes and Noble and tell me if they have been hurt by public libraries. People buy books and people check out books. People might by some extra insurance if they are worried (which, of course, they will be) about waiting in long lines.

No one really knows how the organic process of this is going to evolve. The right will have you believe that we will all be boiling alive in a pit of sewage. How the fuck do they know? What are the basing it on? I'm basing my optimism on the proven track record of Medicare. They are basing their ideas on....what exactly....their rage and fear?

I can safely say that I think that if this bill passes, there are going to be problems....PROBLEMS LIKE WE HAVE RIGHT NOW!! But they are going to be, at the very least, manageable because we, the people, are actually addressing them. Things might need to be changed (gasp!) as time goes on and the kinks are worked out.

At the end of the day, this bill could give us an increase in healthier Americans. Healthier Americans mean more innovation in the work place, more money to invest in the stock market and more money to spend in a sagging economy.

In other words, it's another example of President Obama attempting to save capitalism.