Everyone
Monday, March 2 2009
Joe at Managed Care Matters writes:
There’s plenty for everyone to not like in President Obama’s health care reform plan… the plan’s architects have leveled the playing field, spreading the burden amongst (almost) all the stakeholders.
So who are these stakeholders? Joe only lists the “highlights”:
- “those making over $250k”
- “Medicare Advantage subsidies”
- “Hospital reimbursement”
- “Wealthier seniors”
- “Pharma”
The implication here – and you see it a lot of these discussions – is that people in these groups view themselves only in these terms. It just ain’t true. For example, I know an older couple in the first group; they make a lot of money, and for the last eight years they have enjoyed a tremendous windfall in tax cuts. So yes, Obama’s plan is going to demand more from them. But this couple happens to be my parents. They’ve watched me struggle to afford my health care, and they’ve helped when they could (when I let them). And they’ve been Democrats their whole lives. They’re ready to pay more if it gets a health care system where people like their kid don’t have to suffer.
I expect a lot of people in this country will end up paying more (or differently) for health care under Obama’s plan, but I would guess the above groups cover less than 30% of the American people – and certainly not me. Yes: if the above stakeholders continue to view the debate by their strict financial interests, Obama’s plan will be much more difficult to implement. But the presumption that “stakeholders” are only such insofar as it concerns their bank statement is rather insulting. At least some people making more than $250K are also parents or grandparents or aunts or uncles of sick kids; same for wealthier seniors. At least some pharma employees also struggle with their own healthcare, and at least some hospital administrators wish for a simpler, more compassionate system. And for them, Obama’s plan is not all objectionable.
Yes: if Obama’s strategy – as Joe sees it – is to spread the hurt evenly among stakeholders, he’s doing a pretty good job. But maybe this is bigger than that; maybe healthcare is a national problem, and Obama is proposing a national solution. Maybe he’s asking us to enter this debate not as economic automatons, but as Americans concerned about our compatriots and our country. Maybe the President sees health care not as a problem for various stakeholders and their balance sheets, but rather as a problem for everyone. In which case, he’s still doing a pretty good job.
(via Movin’ Meat)
