 | ||
 | | |
 | ||
| | |
 | ||
| | |
Stones & Bones / health care / volume 11 number 7, July 2009 DOSE OF REALITY According to its own statements, Alaska’s Congressional delegation hopes to kill meaningful health care reform this year. Anyone with an open mind who has been following the news lately is well aware that meaningful health care reform means, at best, establishment of a universal health care and, at minimum, establishment of President Obama’s public insurance program. None of our Congressional delegates has come out in favor of either option. In fact, our two senators, Lisa Murkowski and Mark Begich, have made it clear that they oppose such significant cost-saving health care reform. Why are they taking this negative position? They surely know that if we had a universal health care program that the cost of health care could be cut by one-third, and even the public insurance option would save money by holding down future costs. One reason Senator Murkowski is opposed to such reform is that, like our single representative, Don Young, she is a Republican. The Republicans have rightfully earned the reputation as the party of “No.” That means NO to anything promoted by President Obama and other Democrats, especially if whatever is being promoted looks good to the public. The Republicans obviously believe that positive advances coming out of the current Democrat administration and Congress are detrimental to the future election of Republicans. So simply because President Obama is pushing for meaningful health care reform, our two Republicans in Washington will be inclined to vote against it. They have yet another reason to vote against meaningful reform: their alliance with big business. Business interests, especially those whose profits derive from their lucrative health care activities, do not want to see any cost-saving health care reform. The private health insurance business is vehemently opposed to the establishment of a single-payer universal health care system, and scared to death of a public health insurance option that will operate in competition with the thousands of insurance options available from private industry. With its back to the wall, the industry now openly admits that it cannot do as good a job as government when it comes to operating a health care system. Therefore, a government-operated system must not be allowed on the proverbial playing field. We have not heard much from Representative Don Young on this issue, but Senator Lisa Murkowski has clearly stated her opposition to the public insurance option in an article appearing June 24, 2009, in the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner. First, she presents a tirade against Medicare and Medicaid, playing very loose with factual information both about these programs and the changes to them being proposed by the Democrats in Congress. Then she closes with the false charges that the establishment of a public insurance option would deny the public with choice of doctors, “and leave crucial health care decisions in the hands of government bureaucrats.” Actually, a public insurance option would increase the choice of doctors over what we have now. Furthermore, there is no evidence that public servants (who Murkowski denigrates by calling them bureaucrats) would be making any more “crucial” health care decisions than are now made by for-profit private insurers. Murkowski's arguments here are the kind people make when the facts and logic do not jibe with their preconceived ideas and political views. So much for the stance of Senator Murkowski, but why is Senator Mark Begich taking a stand against meaningful health care reform? He is a Democrat, so we should expect that he will join with President Obama in the push for meaningful reform. Unfortunately, that is not the case. Remember that Senator Begich has joined the Blue Dog Democrats, a right-of-center group in Congress that is more aligned with the interests of business than with those of the public. In a press release announcing his joining up with the Senate Blue Dogs, Begich stated, “When it comes to those issues such as energy and health care, our coalition can be a voice of moderation.” Of course when it comes to meaningful health care reform, the voice of moderation is the kiss of death. Our health care system needs a major revamp, and moderate tweaking of the system simply won’t cut it. Senator Begich clearly stated his opposition to establishing universal health care in an opinion piece published by the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner on June 12, 2009. His telling statement: “If Congress gets it right, Americans happy with their health insurance and medical care will keep what they have, while everyone will have access to affordable, quality care.” In his article, Senator Begich pointedly ignored the major issue of the moment, that of instigating a program of public health insurance. However, on June 24, 2009, the online newspaper Roll Call reported that Begich’s Blue Dog Democrats have joined the American Medical Association to condemn Obama’s publicly sponsored insurance plan that would operate in competition with private insurers.* (Note that only 20 percent of doctors are members of the American Medical Association.) Senators Murkowski and Begich seem to be choosing to ignore the results of various recent polls indicating that the majority of Americans want universal health care, and, failing to get that from Congress, at least a public health insurance option. What Americans want evidently does not mean nearly as much to our two senators as the desires of the highly profitable private health insurance and pharmaceutical industries. Do you suppose that there is any possibility that our two senators would change their stance on the health care reform issue? If so, they could play the role of statesmen working for the welfare of the public, rather than that of politicians seeking only the approval of the industries who will contribute freely to their campaign coffers when it comes time for the next election. I’d like to think that they could act as statesmen; certainly Senators Murkowski and Begich have the opportunity this time because the public is in desperate need of meaningful health care reform. * See www.rollcall.com/news/36225-1.html. Neil Davis is a retired geophysicist and author of several fiction and nonfiction books. His most recent book is Mired in the Health Care Morass. More on health care issues can be found at his blog, http://healthcaremorass.blogspot.com. Neil can be contacted at neildavs@mosquitonet.com. | ||
| | |
