By BARACK OBAMA
The people who oppose the health care bill are uninformed, ill-informed, or unable to think critically. They are being manipulated by the health care industry, which has paid millions of dollars to public relations firms (just as did the tobacco industry) to find the rhetoric and cliches that push buttons of people who unable to formulate questions based on the actual provisions in the proposed bill or evaluate the answers to such questions when they are raised by others and answered by, e.g., President Obama.
For example, "hands off my health care" is an absurd slogan that feeds off anti-government sentiment and does not take into account the fact that Medicare is a government program and that the insurance industry has deprived Americans of basic health care rights — i.e., either these people have little health care now, so that there is nothing for the government to take its hands off of; or, to the extent that they do have health care, that care is provided via Medicaid and Medicare, which are government programs. Moreover, if the government really took "hands off" the life of its citizens, these ninnies would not have public schools, police departments, fire departments, roads, Medicare, Social Security, unemployment insurance, a minimum wage, worker's compensation, the armed forces, public sanitation, or the swine flu vaccine (which is being developed and will be distributed by public health facilities). And so on.
I deplore and resent the stupidity that has been tapped by the health care industry to deprive me and my family of the benefits of what is, basically, a very good bill. (And yes, I've read it — and it's not really 1013 pages, because it is set in 14-point type and double-spaced — plus like most bills, much of the provisions are procedural, not substantive.) "Resent," because my professional options have been sharply limited by the fact that my insurance is not portable; I cannot do the public sector work that I would like to do, and for which I am abundantly qualified, because I would have to give up the coverage that my family needs and which is provided by my private sector employer.
The reasons that the health care bill, with the public option, may be defeated are not related to anything that is actually in the bill. those reasons are the unscrupulous, deplorable, immoral greed of the health care industry; the greed and moronic ideology of the members of Congress that take Big Health's money; and the unbelievable ignorance and malleability of an American public that could not reason its way out of a paper bag, let alone make careful decisions about a complicated issue. Re the latter, our educational system is at fault; and not only do other nations have better health care than we do, but those nations also have a more intelligent, educated populace. We will pay for our deficiencies in a 21st Century world.
For example, "hands off my health care" is an absurd slogan that feeds off anti-government sentiment and does not take into account the fact that Medicare is a government program and that the insurance industry has deprived Americans of basic health care rights — i.e., either these people have little health care now, so that there is nothing for the government to take its hands off of; or, to the extent that they do have health care, that care is provided via Medicaid and Medicare, which are government programs. Moreover, if the government really took "hands off" the life of its citizens, these ninnies would not have public schools, police departments, fire departments, roads, Medicare, Social Security, unemployment insurance, a minimum wage, worker's compensation, the armed forces, public sanitation, or the swine flu vaccine (which is being developed and will be distributed by public health facilities). And so on.
I deplore and resent the stupidity that has been tapped by the health care industry to deprive me and my family of the benefits of what is, basically, a very good bill. (And yes, I've read it — and it's not really 1013 pages, because it is set in 14-point type and double-spaced — plus like most bills, much of the provisions are procedural, not substantive.) "Resent," because my professional options have been sharply limited by the fact that my insurance is not portable; I cannot do the public sector work that I would like to do, and for which I am abundantly qualified, because I would have to give up the coverage that my family needs and which is provided by my private sector employer.
The reasons that the health care bill, with the public option, may be defeated are not related to anything that is actually in the bill. those reasons are the unscrupulous, deplorable, immoral greed of the health care industry; the greed and moronic ideology of the members of Congress that take Big Health's money; and the unbelievable ignorance and malleability of an American public that could not reason its way out of a paper bag, let alone make careful decisions about a complicated issue. Re the latter, our educational system is at fault; and not only do other nations have better health care than we do, but those nations also have a more intelligent, educated populace. We will pay for our deficiencies in a 21st Century world.
Recommend Recommended by 736 Readers
As a US citizen, a medical doctor currently living in Germany, a country where health care is universally available for its residents at affordable rates, I might have some perspectives on this debate you haven't yet run across.
What I find most astounding about our US health care system is not only how many people don’t have coverage (some 46 million, and going up). But rather, how fragile and precarious health care coverage is for so many people who think they are well insured.
How does our US health care system compare? Let's go through some important points in the universal health care system in Germany, which I'm very familiar with:
Here in Germany you are mandated to have standard comprehensive health insurance:
your employer pays half the monthly family premium, you pay the other half,
•you don't get rejected because of any previous condition,
•you don't pay more or less working for a large or small business,
•you don’t pay more or less if you are male or female, black or white, German or foreign born, gay or straight,
•the rates don't go up if someone in the small (or large) business gets sick,
•health insurance is not a consideration when changing jobs or careers because you take the policy with you,
•you don’t lose your policy if you get sick, if you become unemployed, or even if your employer goes out of business,
•you won’t be billed for “out of network” services in hospitals or elsewhere - these services are part of your coverage, no matter which hospital or team of doctors treats you,
•you don’t have annual, lifetime, disease-related, or disease-recurrence caps,
•you won’t be billed at 20%, 30% or more for expensive medications (“price-tiered” pharmaceuticals), because there is no "tiering", legally approved pharmaceuticals are fully covered when you need them, even if they're very expensive,
•nor will you ever go bankrupt due to unpaid and unaffordable medical bills piling up, - that simply doesn't happen – you enjoy completely comprehensive coverage.
•Also, forget expensive copays ($40/year max. for doctor visits @$10 per quarter, a few dollars per prescription, a minimal meals expense during a hospital stay.
•Forget too the denials, the constant slog of endless 0800 calls (yours and your doctor’s) to your insurance company for requests for coverage or adjustments, wasting huge amounts of people's time, energy, and productive capacity every business day - this doesn't happen in Germany, because this is a comprehensive coverage system (which is an important reason why it's so efficient).
I might add that Germany is a democratic country with a freely elected government; its residents are free people – this is not "Russia". In fact, this is the country with long stretches of Autobahn without speed limits, right? (Here, it’s your responsibility to drive safely, and most do.) People here freely change jobs, careers, and locations without any regard for health insurance, and they are free of the fear of going bankrupt or losing their homes or life’s savings if they were to get seriously ill, because their comprehensive insurance protects them from that!
Germany and its residents are not going broke paying for this, either. On the contrary, this fair, efficiently run health care system costs roughly a third less per person that the US system - that's right, about 1/3 less per capita – despite (or because?) everyone being on board and receiving comprehensive health care.
That figure doesn’t come from rationing, long waits to see a doctor, or long waiting lists to get an operation, either—that doesn’t happen here. What that figure does reflect, however, is just how much waste, duplication, and gouging of consumers must be taking place in the US health care system every day.
My point in describing the German health care system is not to encourage you all to move to Germany, but to prove to you, that for one-third less money than you currently already spend, you should be getting comprehensive, universal health care, like every resident of Germany does (yes, including all immigrants!). But you're not.
May I humbly suggest: advocate, and work with your friends and neighbors for health care reform now, absolutely including a strong public plan, which is the lynchpin for any meaningful reform.
Don't let the lobbyists, their surrogates on TV, or their gun-toting mobs and pre-organized advocates at town hall meetings, scare you, confuse you, or drown out your voices yet again.
It is time to face up to this national challenge as adults, and finally join the peoples of the 17 (seventeen!) other advanced democracies (not "Russia", but, yes indeed, Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Norway, Australia, Japan, S. Korea and even Taiwan!) around the world, who already enjoy the benefits of universal, comprehensive, and affordable health care.
We absolutely can grab this bull by the horns, and get this job done this year!!!
Dr. med. Frederick B. Lacey Jr.
Frankfurt am Main, Germany
What I find most astounding about our US health care system is not only how many people don’t have coverage (some 46 million, and going up). But rather, how fragile and precarious health care coverage is for so many people who think they are well insured.
How does our US health care system compare? Let's go through some important points in the universal health care system in Germany, which I'm very familiar with:
Here in Germany you are mandated to have standard comprehensive health insurance:
your employer pays half the monthly family premium, you pay the other half,
•you don't get rejected because of any previous condition,
•you don't pay more or less working for a large or small business,
•you don’t pay more or less if you are male or female, black or white, German or foreign born, gay or straight,
•the rates don't go up if someone in the small (or large) business gets sick,
•health insurance is not a consideration when changing jobs or careers because you take the policy with you,
•you don’t lose your policy if you get sick, if you become unemployed, or even if your employer goes out of business,
•you won’t be billed for “out of network” services in hospitals or elsewhere - these services are part of your coverage, no matter which hospital or team of doctors treats you,
•you don’t have annual, lifetime, disease-related, or disease-recurrence caps,
•you won’t be billed at 20%, 30% or more for expensive medications (“price-tiered” pharmaceuticals), because there is no "tiering", legally approved pharmaceuticals are fully covered when you need them, even if they're very expensive,
•nor will you ever go bankrupt due to unpaid and unaffordable medical bills piling up, - that simply doesn't happen – you enjoy completely comprehensive coverage.
•Also, forget expensive copays ($40/year max. for doctor visits @$10 per quarter, a few dollars per prescription, a minimal meals expense during a hospital stay.
•Forget too the denials, the constant slog of endless 0800 calls (yours and your doctor’s) to your insurance company for requests for coverage or adjustments, wasting huge amounts of people's time, energy, and productive capacity every business day - this doesn't happen in Germany, because this is a comprehensive coverage system (which is an important reason why it's so efficient).
I might add that Germany is a democratic country with a freely elected government; its residents are free people – this is not "Russia". In fact, this is the country with long stretches of Autobahn without speed limits, right? (Here, it’s your responsibility to drive safely, and most do.) People here freely change jobs, careers, and locations without any regard for health insurance, and they are free of the fear of going bankrupt or losing their homes or life’s savings if they were to get seriously ill, because their comprehensive insurance protects them from that!
Germany and its residents are not going broke paying for this, either. On the contrary, this fair, efficiently run health care system costs roughly a third less per person that the US system - that's right, about 1/3 less per capita – despite (or because?) everyone being on board and receiving comprehensive health care.
That figure doesn’t come from rationing, long waits to see a doctor, or long waiting lists to get an operation, either—that doesn’t happen here. What that figure does reflect, however, is just how much waste, duplication, and gouging of consumers must be taking place in the US health care system every day.
My point in describing the German health care system is not to encourage you all to move to Germany, but to prove to you, that for one-third less money than you currently already spend, you should be getting comprehensive, universal health care, like every resident of Germany does (yes, including all immigrants!). But you're not.
May I humbly suggest: advocate, and work with your friends and neighbors for health care reform now, absolutely including a strong public plan, which is the lynchpin for any meaningful reform.
Don't let the lobbyists, their surrogates on TV, or their gun-toting mobs and pre-organized advocates at town hall meetings, scare you, confuse you, or drown out your voices yet again.
It is time to face up to this national challenge as adults, and finally join the peoples of the 17 (seventeen!) other advanced democracies (not "Russia", but, yes indeed, Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Norway, Australia, Japan, S. Korea and even Taiwan!) around the world, who already enjoy the benefits of universal, comprehensive, and affordable health care.
We absolutely can grab this bull by the horns, and get this job done this year!!!
Dr. med. Frederick B. Lacey Jr.
Frankfurt am Main, Germany
Recommend Recommended by 631 Readers
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