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Kremer's Corner:
This old chestnut deserves to become law
Long Island Business News - 7/31/2009
Washington is famous for many things. It has the nation's Capitol. It has cherry blossoms and block after block of famous monuments. It has the beautiful Potomac River. And it is home to more old chestnuts than any other city in the world.
If you think an old chestnut is some type of edible item you are mistaken. Old chestnut is the name given to subjects, ideas and even jokes that have been discussed and rejected over a long period of time.
Washington has more old chestnuts than all the other capitols in the land. The most frequently discussed are health care, global warming and Social Security reform. After 40 years of debate, it would appear that the oldest chestnut, universal health care, is on the brink of passage. Or is it?
Anyone and everyone you talk to on Capitol Hill are of the opinion that America needs better health care for its citizens. There are said to be anywhere from 15 million to 30 million people who have no coverage. If nothing is done this year there is no doubt the number will grow.
On the face of it, passing a health care bill should be a piece of cake. After all, every well-meaning member of Congress wants his or her constituents to have access to a doctor, right? We all know that President Obama wants a bill before the end of the year. There are quite a few Congress members who want a bill this year as well.
So what's the problem? No matter how hard the Congress members huff and puff, the same issues that plagued Sen. Kennedy in 1975 still rise to the top. Should there be a government-run program to be used as a measure of whether the private companies are cheating us?
How are we going to pay for universal health care? Should we have a payroll tax? How about a tax on benefits that people are already getting? How about a tax on millionaires? These are the same ideas that have been floating around and shot down since the first time universal health care was proposed.
The critics of universal health care are still using the same old, tired arguments to fight any bill on the subject. Universal health care is "socialized medicine." The country will go down the drain if we pass any type of health care proposal. The other countries that provide health care have failed miserably.
The health insurance industry, which has a big stake in the discussion, is making believe they really want a successful plan this year. They show up at all the White House meetings, but in the end they will do everything they can to sabotage a bill.
Whether you believe in universal health care or not, all of us that are insured are paying for universal health care in one way or another. The people who have no coverage go to emergency rooms. All of those emergency room visits are subsidized by the taxpayers. Hospital charges reflect the costs of providing for the poor and uninsured.
People with health insurance are getting ripped off on a daily basis by some insurance carriers that consistently deny claims or find a way to pay the minimum reimbursement for some procedure. Your doctors are mugged every time an insurance carrier pays them the "usual and customary fee" for their services.
Many of the people who have coverage think they will lose something if the uninsured get universal health coverage. Like it or not, the insured are paying through the nose for the current health care system in the form of higher taxes, higher insurance premiums and higher hospital charges.
I wish President Obama the best of luck in his efforts to fight the anti-universal health care establishment. I hope enough members of Congress come together to pass a rational plan. It's time to take this old chestnut off the shelf and enact it into law. |
