Article published November 13, 2009
Health-care reform: too big to fail
RIGID adherence to an all-or-nothing philosophy in life is a recipe for missed opportunities. Same goes for politics, as is evident by the all-or-nothing battles threatening to derail relief for millions of Americans struggling to afford health care in this country.
It should be obvious by now that the problem won't go away on its own. Every year we pay more for health insurance that covers less, while shouldering higher out-of-pocket costs, co-pays, and deductibles than ever before.
Previous efforts to rein in oppressive medical costs went nowhere, blunted by Washington politics. And Americans went on suffering with the status quo, either going bankrupt under mounds of medical bills or doing without health care - even the life-saving sort - because they couldn't pay for it with or without insurance.
Once again a serious push is under way to fix what's broken in the health care system. It goes without saying - but I will anyway - that any attempt to correct some of the more egregious wrongs in the system will not please everyone.
In a perfect world, ideologues would always get their way and always be right. And in a perfect world, nobody would get sick or need health insurance. But we don't live in that kind of world on either count.
We live in a world where ordinary American families are being hammered with ever-rising medical expenses, compounding the budgetary stress that comes with double-digit unemployment. It's the rare household that hasn't been affected by job loss or pay cuts.So not surprisingly, a majority of Americans want health-care reform but they find themselves in the middle of a political tug of war between combatants pulling vigorously for themselves. Makes you wonder who is advocating for us in the war to control costs, to make the health system more efficient, to help Americans get healthy.
We're not asking for all-or-nothing health-care reform, just get it started. Whatever vast overhaul bill is finally passed will undoubtedly need refinement, revision, and even repeal after the system-wide experiment is assessed for strengths and weaknesses.
We understand perfection is elusive with any project this complex and with so many competing variables in play. But we simply can't continue to carry crippling medical costs and ever hope of recovering economically.
The House-approved legislation has gone further than any proposed reform since Medicare was created in 1965. Narrowly passed last weekend over the objections of both liberal Democrats and conservative Republicans, it is far from flawless.
But even with the howls of protests over everything from the so-called public insurance option to a last-minute amendment attached by anti-abortion Democrats, reform is still alive. Critics attack it as too costly, too over-reaching, too incomplete, too unacceptable to health insurance companies, pharmaceutical manufacturers, and medical providers.
It may be all of the above to some degree. But the imperfect effort to reduce costs and make coverage more affordable while keeping the growth of the federal budget in check hasn't been derailed yet.
There is a hopeful sign that pragmatism may still win the day over inflexible ideology in Congress. Even with compromise anathema to rigid left and right wingers, a moderate approach to reform could prevail if enough lawmakers find room to negotiate.
Law-making, like sausage-making, ain't pretty. But all the thrashing and threatening over health-care reform could yield positive results for the nation that begin to bring the cost of care down, prohibit rejection for pre-existing conditions, and prevent people from losing their life savings if they get a serious illness.
Or not. If liberals and conservatives only accept all or nothing, they, along with the insurance and pharmaceutical companies, could again prevent reform from getting past the shouting stage. It's understandable that no one wants to give in on anything.
But politics is not a zero-sum game or winner takes all game. It's a collaborative discipline of give-and-take, of seeking common ground, of finessing good from positions hewn in granite.
Those who refuse to budge or bend in life, as in politics, miss opportunities that may never come again. Health-care reform, an evolving process to improve the financial and physical well being of Americans, is one of those favorable happenings with universal ramifications that should be considered too big to fail.
Marilou Johanek is a Blade commentary writer.
Contact her at: mjohanek@theblade.com
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