Obama approaches to health reform
In an emotional and robust defense of his ideas for transforming the country, Barack Obama has appealed to the U.S. historical imperative of providing health care to all its citizens and has become quite closer to its target goal of passing a law to reform the health system.
In an emotional and robust defense of his ideas for transforming the country, Barack Obama has appealed to the U.S. historical imperative of providing health care to all its citizens and has become quite closer to its target goal of passing a law to reform the health system. The dominant reaction to the anticipated address to the plenary of both houses of Congress was positive, and vice president, Joe Biden, predicted yesterday that the legislation will be signed before the celebrations of Thanksgiving Day in late November.
Next week, chairman of the crucial Senate Finance Committee, Max Baucus, will be released with or without support from the Republican opposition, the bill may become the definitive one. This is a text that, as Obama’s speech, looking for consensus in the center, ignoring the wishes of the left give the state a central role in health care and ignoring the pressures of the right to widen the field of private insurance or leaving things as they are.
The latter has been what, given the huge difficulties, has finished happening every time you tried this same battle. Is unlikely to happen this time. “I am the first president facing this cause,” Obama recalled, “but I am determined to be the last.” “Maintaining the status quo is not possible, not this time.”
Many details of the legislative process remain to be solved. The political struggle within the Democratic Party can not be terminated. Much less has been deleted rejection of the Republicans, who have not changed their position after the special meeting held Wednesday night at the Capitol. But the intervention of the president, which detailed the main aspects of its proposal and warned passionately about the urgency, has managed to reposition the debate on land which reveal a happy ending.
First, because Obama raised the discussion to the category that really has the moral responsibility of society with the 47 million Americans without health coverage and many other millions who suffer from abusive conditions of insurance companies. “We are the only advanced democracy on earth, the only rich nation that allows such treatment to millions of its citizens,” Obama recalled.
Second, the speech served to dispel some of the whoppers in the summer unleashed by the enemies of reform, the most scandalous, supported by Sarah Palin, was the council officials who should decide when to put an end to life the frail elderly, and to make clear what he thinks the president on this issue, essentially he has no intention of socialized medicine.
A majority of Americans apparently believed him. The number of people who support the reform increased from 53% to 67%, according to a poll done by CNN among those who followed the speech on television, although these figures must be tempered by the fact that there was a preponderance of Democratic voters to the screens.
The major medical association and the largest group among nurses also supported the president. A spokesman for the group of insurers stated that this plan leaves room to work with the Government. Many other commentators and pundits praised Obama’s intervention, but detected some gaps and contradictions, particularly in regard to financing the plan.
The president said it will cost 900,000 million dollars in 10 years and did not contribute a penny to the national deficit because all resources will be funded from savings generated by the correction of the waste. Despite its huge deficits, the United States devoted to health care for nearly twice that of any Western country.
That concern, the cost of the plan, was yesterday one of the main arguments of the Republicans to reject the draft White House. “The math does not add up,” said Sen. John McCain. “I’ve seen very little in this plan to help reduce costs. We can not let another trillion dollars of debt to future generations.” The second reason for Republican opposition is excessive intervention by the state. “Government is much the same product sold by another vendor,” said the leader of Senate Republicans, Mitch McConnell.
The star of the evening between the opposition was, however, the gentleman from South Carolina Joe Wilson, who, in violation of a protocol largely respected the president’s speech interrupted with shouts of “liar!”. Yesterday publicly asked forgiveness for what he termed “lack of civility.”
Despite the climate of passion that has dominated since the first day this debate and who reigned in the House on Wednesday, Obama tried to build bridges with the opposition. Endorsed two proposals put forward so far by the Republicans, including one of McCain himself, and offered to incorporate anything that might serve to improve the reform. But it seems to have assumed that you will not find much collaboration and will have to push your project with only Democratic votes. “I will be open to other ideas, but I will not waste time,” he said, “with those who have made the calculation that the best policy for them is to kill this plan.”
After this speech can speak and, in fact, Obama’s plan for health reform. These are some of its main ingredients:
- Universal coverage. Just stay outside the illegal immigrants are estimated to be about 12 million of the 47 without coverage today. Young people and self-employed are required to have insurance.
- Participation of the State. The Government will promote a public choice to ensure universal coverage, but only as a last resort for those unable to access private insurance. The public will have to be sure, moreover, self-sufficient exercises can not be completed with deficits can not cover with their own customers. Of course, nobody is obliged to pursue this option. It is estimated that no more than 5% of Americans would.
- Control of insurers. The main objective of the plan is to improve the system of private insurance, increasing competition and companies undergoing serious scrutiny so they can not reject patients for pre-existing medical conditions or give them low when they have a serious illness.
- Respect for current conditions. Nobody is obliged to change their current insurance, no company or doctor.
- No one will go without insurance for job loss. A group of insurers subsidized by the state be responsible for providing coverage to workers who are unprotected when dismissed.
- Attention to retirees. Obama said that no reduction in the least the current program of public coverage for pensioners (Medicare) to pay the public choice, denying it was one of the main reasons for anxiety among the elderly.
