The Storm Before Reform

Sean Hannity must have been listening to an old Glenn Beck show in one ear as he watched President Obama’s Health Care Reform speech before a joint session of Congress last night. His post speech wrap up was peppered with what seemed like pre-programmed partisan pot shots.

What I heard was an eloquent and loquacious ( note to Obama: less= more people watching the whole speech) leader finally set out, with clarity and passion, his plan for Health Care reform. He sounded resolute, but open minded, offering an open door for Republican input. He called upon those on both the right and left to come together and finally enact a substantive reform bill that provides affordable, quality coverage for all Americans, freeing us from overblown premiums and unfair practices that deny or dump people from coverage due to pre-existing conditions or when they fall ill.

Comparing the President to a hack politician making a stump speech at a state fair, Hannity described Obama’s speech as “partisan drivel” that could have been written by James Carville. He went on to call the President, ” either a liar or a thug.” Excuse me? The only thuggery I witnessed came from South Carolina rep. Joe Wilson who screamed, ” You Lie!” when Obama said the plan would not cover illegal immigrants. (Repubs have since taken Wilson out to the woodshed, and he has issued an apology).

Was Obama lying when he dispelled the myths of the “death panels?” Maybe Hannity was peeved because the President called out not only radio and cable TV hosts, but also politicians for fanning the flames of the phony firestorm. He didn’t have to mention Sarah Palin, Chuck “they’re gonna pull the plug on grandma” Grassley or David Vitter. Everyone in that chamber, and most folks across the country, know who’s who in the fright wing circus that dominated the contentious summer of health scare
debate.

Was Obama being thuggish when he emphatically assured insured Americans that their current coverage was not in jeopardy? He’s not proposing a wholesale government takeover of health insurance, but instead offering a public option that would involve a marketplace exchange, allowing those without insurance to get coverage at an affordable rate. This part of the proposal would be phased in over four years, and would probably be only utilized by 5-10% of the population. In the meantime, he called for ( and credited Sen. McCain) a safety net that would protect the uninsured in the event of catastrophic illness and the costs accrued by such a devastating diagnosis.

Surely you couldn’t find lies and thuggery in the President’s call for an immediate law that would force health insurance companies to cover those with pre-existing conditions, while forbidding “rescission,” the egregious act of deliberately dumping a person once he/she becomes sick and really needs the coverage. This proposal received bi-partisan applause.

In the days leading up to the speech, I have heard on the radio, on-line, at Starbucks, on Facebook, from people of all ages, all walks of life, all across the country a disturbingly similar sampling of stories about those who have been subjected to such inhumane treatment from their insurance companies. What exactly is the point of having insurance if it’s not there when you need it? Why am I as a responsible (and superstitious) self-employed citizen paying nearly $500 a month? With the exception of an occasional prescription, I rarely use the benefits ( routine doctor visits are my out-of pocket expense) that are allegedly afforded me should I become gravely ill or suffer a serious injury. I’m certainly not anxious to test out the coverage. But that’s the heretofore untold American tragedy: most of us don’t know just what will be covered until we actually need it. Former insurance executives have testified before Congress stating bluntly that execs are not only encouraged but rewarded for finding ways to ” dump the sick” from coverage they have been paying into for years, sometimes decades. The fact that this unconscionable practice has been permitted to go on–unchecked and unregulated–for years is rock solid proof that the insurance lobby has a choke hold on politicians on both sides of the aisle ( yes, Sen, Baucus, I’m talking about Democrats, too).

Is the President lying when he says he’s willing to hear from Republicans? He proposed a pilot program to test out the Republican favored limits on malpractice cases. But besides that and the idea of allowing consumers the right to shop for coverage across state lines ( which is a good idea and one spearheaded by McCain during the last election), there has been nothing from the Republicans. The GOP spent the summer content to watch ( and in some cases participate) in the fright wing side show.

By all means, let’s have Republicans come to the table with substantive ideas. But there’s no need to toss everything out. Republicans–including Rep. Eric Cantor, the House Minority Whip, who, during the speech, played with his Blackberry like a bored junior high student in an assembly–largely responded to Obama’s speech by saying ” we need reform, but we have to start from scratch.” Funny, I thought Delay had left Congress for a stint on Dancing with the Stars before waltzing off to prison.

Of course I’m not suggesting Republicans –or for that matter Democrats– simply sign on without ironing out the details. And yes, I am concerned with the daunting 900 Billion dollar price tag; I’m not at all convinced that Obama can pull it off without adding to the deficit ( but as another blogger so eloquently stated , the fiscally responsible repubs had no problem when Pres. Bush signed us up for tax cuts and two wars, racking up a deficit that should have made any bloated big government liberal blush with shame). I’m not sure I agree with Obama’s mandate that all people must purchase insurance either.

But as Obama said, ” now is the season for action.” Lawmakers are there to roll up their sleeves and get down to business. It’s not time to ” fear the future,” as the President said, but ” to shape it.”

Call it thuggery if you like, Hannity, but Obama will not let true Health Care reform languish as it has for decades, under proactive presidents from Truman to Clinton or dormant leaders like Reagan and Bush. The condition of coverage in this country is on life-support, There is no more time to “kick the can” down the road, putting it off for other terms, other leaders to wrestle with the growing mess. It can no longer be ignored.

Those Republicans–hellbent on seeing Obama fail–will be disappointed. This man has a passion for this issue ingrained in his very marrow. Don’t forget he watched helplessly while his mother battled cancer and her insurance company to her dying day. This transformative experience for a thoughtful man in a position of power will only buoy his resolve to see a bill pass. He’ll likely have to leave the poetry and sentimentality behind. Maybe Joe Biden will be called upon top channel his inner Lyndon Johnson and gently cajole his  old colleagues in the Senate. But it will get done.The Vice Presudent has predicted a bill will be signed by Thanksgiving; I say Valentine’s Day may be more realistic.

Like the late Sen. Kennedy–whose powerful and touching letter he quoted– who watched two of his children suffer cancer diagnoses, Obama knows reform transcends politics. It is a moral imperative. He knows the richest, most powerful democracy on the planet cannot continue to allow millions of its citizens to fall through the cracks and into the deep abyss of financial ruin and emotional turmoil. He knows illness attacks Republicans and Democrats with equal malice. Illness is bi-partisan. And so is decency, morality and humanity.

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