NO MORE POLITICS

NO MORE POLITICS!
It’s time for a good start on comprehensive health care reform

President Obama hit the nail on the head when he said “the United States Congress owes the American people a final vote on health care reform.” With both chambers having already passed legislation that would rein in corporate greed and help people get the care they need, we shouldn’t have to wait any longer.


While the American people are tired of the bickering in D.C., they want the reforms President Obama proposes. In fact, contrary to opponents’ claims, dozens of polls show that the great majority of people support the reforms that are actually in the reform bill.

We want good, affordable health insurance that works for all of us, not just the fortunate few. We want small businesses to get help making sure all of their employees have affordable health coverage. We want insurance companies to stop denying coverage to people with pre-existing conditions and cutting people off when they get sick. Our seniors need affordable medicine. We want our premium dollars spent on health care, not CEO salaries and profits. Most of us value all of these things, and all of these things are in the reform bill.

Granted, the reform legislation doesn’t go as far as some would like. But let’s not sacrifice the good at the altar of the perfect. Bringing quality, affordable health care to all is like climbing a mountain: we must secure every foothold along the way. That’s the way it works in any successful national campaign.

Reminiscent of efforts to take on Big Tobacco, the insurance and pharmaceutical corporations that profit most from our bloated, unregulated health care system have waged a relentless propaganda campaign to block us from climbing this mountain.

Many thought the David v. Goliath struggle pitting public health against Big Tobacco was over in 1963, when the Surgeon General published the first report citing the dangers of smoking. But in the face of an intense high-priced lobbying and PR onslaught by the tobacco industry, the tipping point took another 15 years before smoking rates began to steadily decline. And it wasn’t until 2005 that Washington state voters banned smoking in public places. Today, people are healthier because of that campaign and smoking rates are the lowest they’ve been in 70 years. We will not change health care overnight, but we must continue to move forward step by step. Change takes time.

While health reform opponents claim they want “better reform,” past attempts illustrate that those siding with the insurance companies really just want to stop reform. Their delay tactics are just that.

The fact is we can’t wait. Our health care system is failing. Over 46 million Americans have no heath care coverage today and that number will rise to as much as 57 million in the next six years. This means that if we do nothing, more people will end up getting their care in emergency rooms and having their illnesses discovered when it is too late to help.

It’s time to stop whining about government involvement in health care. The government is already the biggest health insurance company in our nation. One out of every three Americans, 100 million of us, are already insured through Medicaid, Medicare, military and federal worker plans. Even the conservative legislators that hate government regulation of health care are insured by a health plan regulated by our government.

We can’t afford to wait. Insurance rates are steadily climbing, with rates threatening to go up 35 to 39 percent in some plans in California. As we slowly get out of our recession, health care costs will continue to be a major source of financial ruin. The sad fact is that 78 percent of those declaring personal bankruptcies due to health problems had health insurance at the beginning of their illness. You can go bankrupt from an illness even if you have insurance, because many policies don’t cover enough expenses and often expire when you become ill and unemployed.

Like many of my patients, and millions of other Americans, I live with a chronic disease. This means health insurers can refuse to cover me or price their plans out of reach. President Obama has listened to people like me, my patients and our neighbors. In last week’s bipartisan summit he demonstrated, once again, how well he understands our concerns. While I am not totally pleased with the present bill, it is a major step in the right direction.

It has taken 18 years from the last time we tried to make our health care system work for all of us. If we delay now, it may be another 20 years before we get back to the table. In the meantime, middle class Americans will be gouged by ever increasing costs, more businesses will drop coverage for employees, and more people who experience major illnesses will die because they cannot afford care.

We’ve had enough of insurance companies’ denied claims, inflated profits and soaring premiums. Health care costs are crushing our families and businesses. We need reform now. No excuses. No more politics. We need good health care we can count on now.

Robert Jaffe is a family physician in Seattle. He has been a leader in state and national tobacco control campaigns.