Obama's Health Care
In an effort to overcome the pessimistic undertone that has penetrated public opinion concerning President Obama’s health care plan, Democrats returning from Washington to their home states are hosting town-halls to educate their constituents on it’s desirability. Unfortunately for both the President and majority House leaders, 42% of Americans called Obama’s health care plan a “bad idea” while only 36% said it was a “good idea” (Support Slips for Health Plan, Wall Street Journal, July 30, 2009). Why are Americans concerned? According to The New York Times, “Americans are concerned that revamping the health care system would reduce the quality of their care, increase their out-of-pocket health costs and tax bills, and limit their options in choosing doctors, treatments and tests” (New Poll Finds Growing Unease on Health Plan, The New York Times, July 29, 2009).
While Democrats might disagree, Americans’ fears have justifiable foundation. Concerning quality of care, on July 22nd, President Obama promised that health care reform would keep the government out of health care decisions – leaving health care professionals to make those calls. But when examining the House and Senate versions of the bill, both call for an increased role of comparative effectiveness research (CER). Undoubtedly more information on health care effectiveness is good thing – as long as the research is driven by doctors and patients. Republicans in both the House and Senate offered amendments prohibiting the use of CER by government to mandate, deny, or ration care, but these amendments were defeated in both Houses.
With the nation edging out of a staggering economic recession, middle-class Americans have begun to see frightening indicators that a tax-hike might be headed their way. As a candidate, President Obama promised the country, “If you’re a family that’s making $250,000 a year or less you will see no increase in your taxes. Not your income tax, not your payroll tax, not your personal gains tax, not any of your taxes.” But this past weekend, double-talk radiated from the White House as both Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and National Economic Council Director Larry Summers refused to rule out the possibility of a middle-class tax hike, while the President’s spokesperson seemed to take the middle class tax increase off the table on Monday.
On top of this, Americans are finally waking up to the fact that our country is borrowing against itself at an exponential rate that cannot be repaid even in our children’s lifetime. While the President has tried to portray his health care plan as a cost-saver that would not add “even one dime to our deficit over the next decade,” Americans are not immune to common sense. The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has stated that “the House health plan would actually increase the budget deficit by $239 billion over ten years” (Obama: Health Care Reform Won’t Add “One Dime” To Deficit, NationalJournal.com, July 23, 2009).
Does the CBO have a history of correctly estimating costs – or do they inflate or underestimate the numbers associated with new government programs? Scholars went back and compared past CBO estimates on health care to actual spending numbers and found:
When Medicare was launched in 1965, Part A was projected to cost $9 billion by 1990, but ended up costing $67 billion. When Medicaid’s special hospitals subsidy was added in 1987, it was supposed to cost $100 million annually, but it already cost $11 billion by 1992. When Medicare’s home care benefit was added in 1988, it was projected to cost $4 billion in 1993, but ended up costing $10 billion (Tax & Budget Bulletin, CATO Institute, No. 75, June 2009).
These historical figures indicate that Americans have cause for concern. Regardless of the President’s attempts to characterize the reform as a cost-saving mechanism that will help to stimulate the economy, most Americans continue to want the federal government to focus on reducing the deficit rather than spending money (New Poll: Bring Down Debt, Don’t Spend More, The New York Times, July 29, 2009).
Bringing the debate to a personal level, Americans are unswervingly defensive about retaining their right to choose their own health care plans and doctors. While President Obama has said that it is “not legitimate” to claim that the “public option is somehow a Trojan horse for a single-payer system,” the claim has sound foundations. Nobel Prize winning economist Paul Krugman, along with Reps. Barney Frank (D-MA) and Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), have all admitted that the public option will inevitably lead to government-run health care that will limit the decisions Americans make about their providers, treatments and tests (Still Not Convinced the Public Option is a Trojan Horse for Single-Payer? The Heritage Foundation, August 3, 2009).
Beyond all of the positive messaging emanating from Washington Democrats on health care reform, Americans can use common sense to understand that if their elected officials are opting not to utilize the public option there must be a reason. Members of Congress and their families currently receive health care through the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program which allows members of Congress to choose between 283 private health insurance plans. Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) proposed an amendment that would require all members of Congress and their staffs to enroll in the newly-created public health insurance plan. His amendment passed by just one vote in the Senate Health Committee and stands an uphill battle when Senators return to Washington. In the House, Rep. Dean Heller (R-NV) offered a similar amendment and all 21 Democrats on the House Ways and Means Committee voted it down. Certainly it stands to reason that if the public plan is everything the President and Democrats say it is, then Members of Congress should by willing to forfeit their private coverage and join the millions of Americans who would be moved into the public plan. So why the no votes?
Most Americans see a true need for health care reform in this country – what they are questioning is the plan’s details and it’s timing. As Democrat Mary Bevering of Fort Madison Iowa, told the NYT: “We need to fix health care but if the government creates the system, I’m afraid the quality of care will go down and costs will go up: We will pay more taxes” – and this is the bare and naked truth.
