For the first time, actual health reform bills will actually hit the floors of Congress and be subjected to a vote by our elected officials. This is a positive development, because reform is badly needed as costs soar through the roof and people die due to insurance abuses.
In the current system, there's no competition in the health insurance market. In 39 states, 50 percent or more of the insurance market is dominated by two companies, according to the American Medical Association. This enables insurance companies to extort the consumer through high premiums, and yet they're under no obligation to actually pay for care once it's needed. Just last week, a story was in the news about an insurance company denying care to a young woman, citing her rape as a "pre-existing condition."
A key solution that's been presented is what's called a public option, which would be open to anyone who cannot obtain insurance through the private sector. Studies suggest that it wouldn't have much of an effect on the decisions of private insurers, but it would go a long way to making sure everyone is covered and avoid raising premiums for everyone else through emergency care.
The people seem to like the idea. A recent Research 2000 poll showed 60 percent support for the idea of letting a government provider compete against private insurers. Yet, many conservative Democrats have balked at the public option, claiming it will cost too much to implement and will serve to bankrupt local insurance companies. However, the idea that it will cost too much is without validation.
After inserting a strong public option that ties the proposed public insurance option to Medicare rates, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi submitted the House health care bill to the Congressional Budget Office to determine the cost. In the preliminary scoring, the robust public option cut 20% of the costs from the bill, costing $871 billion while actually reducing the federal budget deficit. This is much lower than the $1.042 trillion it would cost without the public option. In addition, the bill covers 96% of Americans through its strong subsidies for those who do not have a high enough income to buy insurance comfortably.
The CBO score serves to put conservative Democrats on the spot. Are they really supportive of lower health care costs and creating competition in the insurance market? Or do they support the insurance company monopolies that dot the landscape?
The Senate, led by Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada, is moving to strip the health insurance industry of its exemption to anti-trust laws, a distinction it currently shares only with Major League Baseball. If the Senate is able to do this, and the House of Representatives already has, then this will likely break up some of the largest monopolies that make up the health insurance industry, lowering costs for consumers.
The bills aren't perfect by any means. The public option being floated wouldn't be open to anyone who wanted it – just to those already shut out of the market. In addition, Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon has been trying to obtain support for his amendment that would move the country away from an employer-based system and allow people to purchase plans individually with more ease. Unfortunately, his efforts were derailed, as the idea was deemed too great of a deviation from the current structure of our health care system.
Republicans have balked at the very idea of health care reform, making a political calculation that doing their best to kill the Democratic agenda is better for their electoral prospects than fixing the system. Therefore, the responsibility for passing reform is going to fall on Democrats, as they control both houses of Congress by large margins. All the credit, or all the blame, is going to fall on them. The fate of health care reform effectively lies in the hands of conservative Democrats in the Senate, like Indiana's Evan Bayh.
Reform of America's health care system is the closest that it's ever been, but now it's time to close the deal. Call your elected officials. Let them know that reform is needed this year, and make sure to bring up support for the public option.
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