This is the start of what I hope to be a series of blogs looking for the center. Not a rant from the left or the right, but a view from the center.
The Affordable Care Act — I feel it should be called by it’s official name, because ObamaCare it definitely is not. Obama made it clear at the beginning that it was Congress’ job to come up with an appropriate health care plan. Obama said he really didn’t care, he was happy with nationalized health as an answer, or, get this, he was happy with a complete free market approach to health care. Either would be better than the then current state of health insurance.
Congress did neither. The Affordable Care Act (ACA) is a compromise that not everyone is happy with. (All though the insurance companies seemed just fine with it, more customers guaranteed.)
What do the Liberals love about it? It provided health care for many of those people locked out of the previous health care system. Health care they couldn’t have afforded otherwise.
What to the Conservatives hate about it? Well, if you are going to provide health care at a discount, cheaper than the insurance companies feel they need to charge for it, somebody has to pay.
Who pays for the ACA? Two parties. One is individuals who are required to buy health insurance, even if they don’t want to. Penalties otherwise. The other is companies with more than 50 employees.
Here is where we begin to see the incredible chasm between the Democrats and Republicans.
The Democrats sing the praises of all the people who now have health care who couldn’t before. This is great! (Can you see the gratitude that comes from this?)
The Republicans decry the injustice of who has to pay for it. Some healthy 20-something, doing say construction work, taking care of his family, now has to buy health insurance he still can’t really afford. Why? Because some poor person can afford it? (Can you see the resentment that might be built up here?)
And small companies, suddenly faced with a huge expense if they go over 50 employees. They’re all refusing to hire, instead using contractors and part-time employees to avoid incurring this expense that will definitely impact their ability to do business. (And the resentment that builds up here? And the impact on jobs?)
This is a classic case of the government redistributing wealth. It’s a case of robbing Peter to pay Paul. Which is not a bad thing, it’s what government does. As always, Paul is really excited about it. Peter is pissed. And there you have the Republican – Democrat divide over the AHCA.
So what’s the answer?
Clearly as a civilized nation we want to provide basic health care to all our citizens.
Clearly as a fair nation, we need to figure out some way to pay for that. Fairly.
We need the Democrats and the Republicans to sit down at the negotiating table. We need the Democrats to say, our constituents are hurting, they can’t afford health care, they can’t take care of their basic needs. We need the Republicans to say, our constituents are having a hard time making ends meet, the self-employed can’t be forced to pay for it, the small companies can’t be forced to pay for it as they are our best hope for new jobs.
So look across the table, Ds and Rs, talk about exactly how much health care to provide, talk about who is going to pay for it. Work together for your constituents. Understand each other.
Personally, I agree with Obama. Either nationalize health insurance, Medicare for all, or take it out of corporations, make it an individual decision, pure free market, different products for different budgets, with regulation ensuring that pre-existing conditions, etc., can not be used as a criteria in the price of insurance.
