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Analysis
US: A
Nation Divided Over Health Care
by
Arun Kumar
President Barack Obama made it a
central point of his campaign, Americans of all hues want it yet how to
provide an affordable health care system has divided the nation down the
middle.
With nearly 46 million Americans having no insurance, and
25 million more underinsured, more and more people cannot afford good
medical care as many employers too have stopped offering insurance to
employees because of the high cost.
In 2007, the United States spent
a total of $2.4 trillion - or $7,900 per person - on health care or 52
percent more per person than the next most costly nation, Norway,
according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.
Thus there's little
debate that health care reform is necessary. President Obama, Republican
and Democratic members of Congress, the American Medical Association and
America's Health Insurance Plans, which represents the insurance
industry, all have agreed the system needs to be changed, although they
disagree on how to do it.
A central point of Obama's plan is to
create a government-sponsored health insurance program that would be
an option for all Americans, similar to how Medicare is now an option
for Americans over age 65. He has also said he'd "like to see"
prohibitions against insurers discriminating against people with
pre-existing conditions, and incentives for people to use preventive
services and wellness plans.
Obama has said he's already
identified "hundreds of billions of dollars" worth of savings in the
federal budget that could help finance health care reform, such as
rooting out waste, fraud and abuse in Medicare and Medicaid. He's also
proposed reducing tax deductions for high-income Americans.
But
Republicans don't like the idea of having a government-sponsored health
insurance program for all Americans. They fear employers would opt for
the government-run insurance over private insurance because the
government option would most likely be less expensive, but Republicans
say it would also be of lower quality.
Another impediment to
implementing any reform that does not benefit insurance companies or the
private health care industry is the power of insurance company and
health care industry lobbyists in the United States.
However,
with the important power players - doctors, insurance companies,
pharmaceutical manufacturers - apparently on board this time unlike in
1993 when then first lady Hillary Clinton tried her hand at changing the
medical system, there is a good chance of doing it.
The Democrat
chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, Max Baucus, introduced his
long-awaited plan to remake the health care system and insure millions
of Americans last week. Yet despite tailoring his proposal to be less
costly and less intrusive, he did not win support from a single
Republican.
The bill closely resembles what Obama said he wanted,
except that it does not include a new government insurance plan to
compete with private insurers.
Baucus's bill is the least
expensive of five major health care bills moving through Congress. The
Congressional Budget Office said the expansion of coverage would cost
$774 billion over 10 years, compared with price tags of more than $1
trillion for the other measures.
As they scoured the 223-page
document, many of the most influential players found elements to
dislike, but the prospect of gaining 30 million new customers may yet
win the day for Obama, analysts suggested.
(Arun Kumar can be
contacted at arun.kumar@ians.in)
IANS | September 20, 2009
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