Health Reform: Urgency and Patience
Here’s a candidate for understatement of the year: Many people are anxious for Congress to finalize a health care reform bill that both chambers can live with and send to the President for signature.
Despite my past-month handwringing over the costs of such legislation, I entirely understand and empathize with the anxiety of those “many people.”
Take the case of a family I know quite well:
- Their only child is now a legal adult, but he still qualifies as a dependent because he’s a full-time college student and thus can be covered by the insurance plan of his father’s employer — at least for a few more years.
What the parents in this family didn’t fully appreciate until recently was that, if they both died in a tragedy, their only child would be forced to find an alternate health plan.
Problem #1: Their only child has a pre-existing condition that requires expensive medication; he’s a prime candidate for rejection by insurers offering individual plans.
Problem #2: His age and pre-existing condition would likely prevent him from holding down a traditional, full-time, salaried job, which is often a pre-requisite for an employer-provided health plan.
Problem #3: Without his medication, this young man will suffer incredibly and might not be able to hold down even a part-time job.
This family’s scenario alone opens up my reluctant, skeptical mind to a “public option” — or at least non-profit “cooperatives” that are required to not reject anyone for a pre-existing condition.
Even then, even with this family’s situation in mind, I can also appreciate the recent call for patience — for a little more time to study and debate and work through options — from a group of six senators.
Money quote from their letter to Senate Leaders Reid and McConnell:
While we are committed to providing relief for American families as quickly as possible, we believe taking additional time to achieve a bipartisan result is critical for legislation that affects 17 percent of our economy and every individual in the U.S.
3 Responses to “Health Reform: Urgency and Patience”
Do you think everyone is working toward this worthy goal in good faith?
Do you favor any deadline?
George — In answer to your first question, “No.” In answer to your second, “Yes,” but I'm not convinced that deadlines has to be before the August recess. What's more, if they (Congress and the Administration) are serious about the importance of this bill — wh ich I think they are — they could always cancel the August recess.
This quote is from a review of books about Democratic Representative Henry Waxman and Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell: