Obama's Townhalls

I have now viewed President Obama's townhall meetings at AARP, New Hampshire, Montana, and Colorado and wonder what the hubbub is about concerning healthcare reform. As he said in his last three townhalls eighty percent of the work on the healthcare bills has been done and the remaining needs to be negotiated out.

From the Left, there are cries that the single-payer system is not being considered. President Obama never campaigned on a single-payer platform either in the primaries of the general election. The Right has been disingenous from the very beginning about this,raising the specter of "socialized health care". But the more they argue the more I realize that probably is the right way to go if the United States can ever be a fully realized 21st century economy. The whole health care debate has brought forth in stark terms the reality that this is all about the enrichment of the so-called health insurance industry. With the economy cratering, the health insurance industry has been immune from the catastrophes affecting American lives. Their top executive earn salaries and stock options that exceed even productive elements of our society like say a Steve Jobs at Apple or someone who actually has done something worthwhile. The endless rate charges by the insurance companies--like Connecticut Blue Cross-Blue Shield's 35% hike--are unsustainable for a modern political economy. Where President Obama erred in his presentations was the claim that Blue Cross was a non-profit. It used to be but no longer.

So far, President Obama's presentations have dealt with the whole issue of small businesses and the range of reforms the insurance industry will have to make about excluding pre-existing conditions, caps on payouts, and a whole host of details that have eliminated millions of Americans from health care. So far so good. He really hasn't publicly talked about the insurance companies' near monopolistic practices in a variety of states. For instance, the state of Alabama and,I believe, Arkansas only have one company to insurance their entire states. He also hasn't talked about the situation in New Jersey where the insurance companies are not reimbursing providers for emergency room care. Yet, he has made considerable progress--more than anyone in recent memory on this vital issue.

The astro-turfing of anti-health reform issues is a sight to behold. The predominant class of people showing up to heckle members of congress and the President are senior citizens. In other words, people who are on Medicare, a government-run system. The whole demagogic claims by Republicans over euthanasia and death panels are aimed at senior citizens, who should be reminded that no Republicans ever voted for Medicare at its creation. And, in fact, the Republican long-term strategy is to eliminate Medicare, which I will get to. Another anti-health care group are the evangelicals or fundamentalists who are claiming that the bill would pay for abortions. Since the bill won't, it seems to me as a former Divinity School student that these so-called Christian sectarians are running straight against the teachings of the central figure in their religion. I just can't comprehend the religious motivation against providing healthcare for the poor, the indigent and now even the middle class.

President Obama in Colorado finally corrected what I have felt has been a long-standing error when he kept referring to inheriting a deficit of $1.5 trillion. Yesterday, he finally added the $10 trillion in structural deficit spending that had also been racked up over the last eight years. As he has made clear, if health reform isn't adopted, Medicare goes broke in eight years. He also chided his critics who are bemoaning the deficits but who passed Medicare B--the prescription drug plan--without having a way to pay for it. And, finally, he pointed out the same about the Iraq war, which was fought off budget--another $1 trillion which was not paid for.

So, let's go straight to the motives of those opposed. The Republicans have made it clear that they are banking on a revival by defeating health reform. They did this in the 1990s and believe it will work again. Senator Tom Coburn of Oklahoma let the cat out of the bag at his townhall meeting by saying he wants to eliminate Medicare and eventually wants to privatize Social Security like George W. Bush wanted. The long-term strategy of Republicans is to eliminate Medicare. Some estimate Medicare costs will add some $40 trillion to our national deficit over the decades. Prior to it runnng out of money, look to Republicans to seek drastic reductions in benefits and then to its elimination or some gimmick to privatize.

The funding by the insurance companies--some $245 million spent on lobbying this year alone--and their financial support to organizations organizing these rallies is aimed at only one thing--to eliminate any public option that will put a break on their profit margins. That's all. They want the big bonanza of an additional 42 million customers, subsidized by the American taxpayer, without any restraints on their monopolistic activities. That's the beginning and end of the insurance agenda. At some point, the divergence between the Republican and the insurance agenda will become obvious in the fall. Can the insurance companies continue to obstruct progress since they have already forecast a less properous future for themselves with no change?

As for President Obama's performance at these townhall meetings, can you imagine President Bush answering any policy questions in such detail--especially with real opponents in the crowd? Remember his meetings were tightly controlled and scripted events. Even those who dissented from his policies and managed to sneak in were arrested. In Colorado, three were jailed for having "no war for oil" bumperstickers.

President Obama has hit the points for reform in all his townhalls. We can not afford the status quo--literally. Millions more Americans are going without health insurance. Thousands are having to declare bankruptcies because of medical expenses. Even those with insurance are finding the cost of medical care not covered and sometimes deprived by the insurance companies. The insurance companies have no mechanism by which they can be kept honest. And, he has raised the unpleasant truth that we spent over $6,000 more per person than the closest industrialized country for healthcare, which produces worst results. In short, no, we don't have the best health care system in the world.

More devastating is the fact that over 6 million Americans will go abroad for medical care next year.

In all probability, a heath reform bill will pass this year. Not enough Blue Dog Democrats will have been intimidate by the mobs to back down. The real issue is what form a "public option" takes? As of today, the press has Obama backing away from the public option. Kathleen Sibelius said that it wasn't "essential" to the health reform plan and that President Obama would settle for an "insurance cooperative". Before everyone screams, we should wait and see what this means.

I'm for GEICOing medical insurance. The medical insurance would be sold on a national markewt not on a state-by-state basis and that all major medical insurers would participate. I'm also in favor a a regulatory commission, which would take complaints against insurance company by individual patients with the power to seek restitution. I am also in favor of a public option because otherwise the whole health reform becomes a massive TARP bailout for an already rich industry.