Published on August 1, 2009
The cost of our current health care system is robbing you of your life earnings. According to PBS.org:
The cost of health insurance has increased dramatically over the past decade, far surpassing the general rate of inflation in most years. Between 1989 and 1996, the average amount an employee had to contribute for family coverage jumped from $935 to $1,778. In 1990, American companies spent $177 billion on health benefits for workers and their dependents; that number rose to $252 billion by 1996, or more than double the rate of inflation. Who pays for the rising costs of health insurance? Employees, consumers and taxpayers pay. Businesses pass along a portion of rising premiums to their workforces in the form of lower wage increases. Companies add the cost of the fringe benefits, including health insurance, to the price of their products and services. Government programs pay 47 percent of the health care tab in the U.S.; spending on health care makes up 20 percent of the federal budget, and most state budgets too.
This information may paint a picture of why we need health care reform, but it falls short of identifying the legislative leaders of this debate and what they are saying.
One of the most passionate proponents of reforming America’s health care system is President Obama. He is keenly aware of what sky-rocketing health care costs are doing to many Americans. “This is an issue that affects the health and financial well-being of every single American and the stability of our entire economy,” the president said during his weekly address on July 17. “It's about every family unable to keep up with soaring out of pocket costs and premiums rising three times faster than wages.” It is among these reasons that he asked the House of Representatives to craft health care reform legislation, which has been worked on in the House Ways and Means, Energy and Commerce, and Education and Labor Committees. On July 14, 2009 Congressman Henry Waxman (D-CA), who is part of the Congressional tri-committee introduced the America's Affordable Health Choice Act of 2009—a health care reform bill for Americans that according to the CBO (Congressional Budget Office) is deficit neutral. However, a group of Democrats known as the “Blue Dogs” have concerns over the cost of the bill and have contributed to the delay of what many thought would be easy passage of the reform legislation.
The Blue Dogs are a coalition of fiscal conservative Democratic House members who are committed to passing health care refrom that lowers costs and improves quality for all Americans. They recognize that the skyrocketing costs of health care is “not only bankrupting American families and businesses,” but is also leading the country “down a path to fiscal disaster.” Representative Mike Ross (D-AR), Chairman of the Blue Dog Health Care Task Force, said on July 24 that since the House is working on a “monumental overhaul” of the health care system that “will affect the lives of every American citizen” it is critical they get it right. Ross also stressed that the Blue Dogs were not trying to kill health care reform, but that they were “trying to save it.” “We are committed to providing the American people with the quality, affordable health care that they need and want,” Ross said, “and we will continue to forge ahead in an honest effort to reach this goal." As the issues continue to be debated a full House vote will probably not be reconsidered until September, at the earliest.
Leaders on the Senate Finance Committee are crafting a bill to gain support from both parties. In a paper titled “A Call to Action,” Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT) said he believes very strongly “that every American has a right to high-quality health care through affordable, portable, meaningful health coverage,” and that “Americans cannot wait any longer.” Acknowledging the problem as well is Senator Chuck Grassley, the leading Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, who said that health care services “provided to the uninsured results in costs shifted to paying customers and private insurers.” Although Senator Grassley recognizes the serious need for health care reform, he will not support reform that includes a government option and was discouraged when President Obama reaffirmed during his July 22 White House news conference, a preference for creating a government-run insurance option.
On the other hand, Senator Jim DeMint (R-SC) said, “If we’re able to stop Obama on this, it will be his Waterloo. It will break him.” Republicans believe they can hurt the Obama administration by blocking his health care initiative, similar to when the Clinton health care reform plan was defeated in 1994, leading the way for a GOP takeover of Congress. Republicans who oppose all attempts at health care reform simply for partisan reasons are missing the opportunity to be leaders in America.
Right now, you might be sitting in your home drinking your coffee before you head to work and be wondering, “Why is this issue important to me?” “ Why does the government want to increase taxes so that the unemployed and lazy can have health care?” “What I want is for the government to take their hand out of my pocket.” Without health care reform your pocket is being picked. Our elected leaders need to put the American people first this fall and reform our broken health care system.