Health care legitimately repaired

By Jim Killebrew

I published the following article first on Feb. 19, 2011. Obamacare had just recently been passed, but the future of the law was bleak to say the least. More than two years later, we are still debating the law and its implementation. 

[November 09, 2013]  ^"The campaign goes on to bring health care in America out of the free market and into the protective custody of government. Those who brought us the postal service and Amtrak are anxious to provide medical service of the same high caliber." -- Ronald Reagan, as cited in "Reagan In His Own Hand."

"We just can't trust the American people to make these types of decisions. ... Government has to make these choices for people."  -- Hillary Clinton circa 1993, speaking to Rep. Dennis Hastert on the issue of who should control the allocation of money in her health care reform plan.

These two quotes contrasted with each other epitomize the differences between the conservative and liberal viewpoints for health care. These two well-respected American political leaders have articulated the heart of the issue. Now we have a new Congress that has garnered a majority of Republicans in the House of Representatives and is being pushed along by the tea party movement to roll back the health care law that was enacted last year as part of the president's premier accomplishments.

There is no question that the health care system is broken. The cost of illness is prohibitive, sometimes even if the person who is ill has insurance coverage. We hear horror stories of loved ones in the hospital after an auto accident, or after suffering a heart attack or stroke, and the outlandish cost of the care and treatment. There are other instances of the hospital bill being sent both to the patient after discharge and the insurance company for processing, sometimes resulting in payment from both sources -- in effect,  paying twice for the same service or equipment.

For too long, some insurance companies have dropped the insured after a claim or two has been made, following years of paying premiums. Pre-existing illnesses have prevented others from even having insurance completely, or only with a very high premium. For those with no insurance, the use of the emergency rooms around the country has driven the cost of health care even higher, since those who pay have to pay not only for themselves, but for those who receive services but cannot pay.

The problem seems clear enough, and the comments from Mr. Reagan and Mrs. Clinton certainly stake out the positions on both sides of the issue.

Unfortunately the issue and problem have dragged on for far too long. When the Democrats controlled both the House and the Senate, in addition to the White House, the law was pushed through primarily on a partisan basis. The result of that stiff-arm tactic was the passage of a law that has been taken to court by at least 22 states on the grounds of part of it being unconstitutional. For sure, at least two federal appeals courts have declared that parts of the law are unconstitutional. The challenge has progressed and will likely be heard by the United States Supreme Court sometime in the future. In the meantime, the people who need medical services are caught in the middle and the suffering continues.

If the politicians in Washington, D.C., want to serve the people in the best possible way, they need to put aside their differences and come together in a bipartisan effort to realistically and honestly examine all the facets of the health care issue and come to a consensus about the best possible plan. Perhaps the Democrats believed they did that the first time, but the law failed the cooperation, bipartisan test. So much so that the American people recognized that the law did not pass the "smell test." The American people took to the streets in a democratic fashion and pushed back. The message in the November 2010 midterm election sent a strong message to the Democrat lawmakers that they cannot usurp the process and go it alone. Ruling against the will of the people has proven to be disastrous on many levels, beginning with those who were turned out of office by the voters.

Lawmakers, both conservative and liberal, must "reason together" in a way that puts aside their philosophical views to objectively study each facet of the health care issue and construct sound solutions to include the American people's interests in the final product. That may include everything from tort reforms to regulatory constraints on practices that have skewed the medical services conservatively or liberally. The solution may require a combination of the free market system as well as oversight of regulations enacted by the government ... but always to the favor of all Americans.

The preceding article remains unfinished more than two years after it was initially written. Health care in America remains among the best in the world. It is the insurance and access to that health care that we are continuing to try to find ways to equalize for everyone. More than two years later, Congress and the president are still not sitting down to craft the best plan to favor all Americans.

A plan cannot be lopsided to the extent that it is unequally administered. The philosophical values of some cannot ride roughshod over the values of others. The Congress has been elected by the people to be representative of the people -- lawmakers cannot disregard the will of the people just to regulate against them. Exempting themselves from laws that they impose on the citizens is never going to be fair and will always cause problems when implemented. Laws that mandate actions contrary to the Constitution of the United States will never be acceptable to the people at large. Laws that abrogate the rights of American citizens will never be valid for implementation. If the president and representatives in Congress insist on removing people's rights, they are likely going to have to do it by force.

What we are seeing now with the implementation of the Obamacare law that was passed unilaterally by the Democrats in Congress without a single Republican vote is not working. This is not a failure of the system of government established by our Constitution, nor is it a failure of the checks and balance of power established by our forefathers. It is a failure of the men and women who are now in seats of government in both the administration and the Congress. They have traded in their integrity for the "30 pieces of silver" slipped to them under the table by special interest groups who have lobbied individual lawmakers into selling their soul (and votes) to indulge their own acquisition of wealth and power and continued re-election to their office. They are not setting aside their personal desires in favor of what is best for the entire citizenry of the country.

This is clearly emerging as we see 15 members of Congress up for re-election in 2014, each of whom voted for a health care bill that will eventually bankrupt the national economy. Now, not then, they are recognizing the calamity of their actions and are seeking refuge "until after the next election." Not only is this disgusting, it is dishonest, perhaps even to the extent of unlawful. As they collectively slither over to the White House for a meeting with the president to now demand restitution for a calamitous law that threatens their re-election, they can suddenly see the light. They have failed to act in the honorable capacity of their office to uphold the will of the people and legislate for the benefit of the people, so now they backtrack to a position that was previously on the table for them to consider, at which time they rejected. Now, when their chances of re-election are threatened, they want a seat at the table of reconciliation. Perhaps this crop has lost their last ounce of credibility, especially since they built their house of cards on the foundation of known untruths for the past two years.

[By JIM KILLEBREW, Ph.D.]

If a man loves his children, he will fight for the things that are right; otherwise, he will have to teach his children to fight for the things that are wrong.