As the U.S. healthcare system continues its descent into the abyss, there are a few people and organizations willing to state the obvious--The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) requires huge improvements and in its current iteration, won't accomplish the reform goal of providing everyone with access to affordable and guaranteed healthcare.
Howard Dean is one such patriotic and outspoken critic. He was in Canada yesterday at a panel entitled, "Be it Resolved that I would Rather Get Sick in the United States than Canada"
Though it's become unpopular of late, to critique the President and his efforts to "reform" the healthcare system, it's essential to continue to shine a light on the terrible realities of healthcare in America. Which is why we should applaud Dr. Dean's candor. In an interview with the Globe and Mail, he made some very important comments about "reform" and the US healthcare system post "reform".
Before continuing with Dr. Dean, we hope you will sign this email on behalf of Americans losing their COBRA subsidies.
Please lend your voice for Americans who have lost their jobs and now are losing their COBRA subsidies. Please sign this email.
The Howard Dean interview in its entirety is well worth reading. A couple of points stand out.
Health-care reform dominated the headlines for a long time. Was it successful?
We didn't pass reform. All we did pass was putting more money into what we already have. It's successful in a sense that 1) we got a major bill passed, which is something for a new administration; 2) we created a system that's going to force reform because of the financial realities; 3) a great many more people are going to have coverage. But this system is still not nearly as effective and efficient as the Canadian system.
And this from Dr. Dean, as COBRA subsidies are being allowed to phase out andmillions of Americans will find themselves unemployed and uninsured.
Surely this is not "reform" you can believe in.
Q: Bottom line, which system is better for the patient?
A: I've spent a lot of time in both countries and there is no doubt that you're better off getting sick in Canada.
Q: But don't you have the best health care in the world? We hear that mantra constantly.
A: We have the best health care in the world for people who can afford it. But Canada has very, very good health care for everybody.
President Obama made a promise. He said you keep the insurance you have if you want to. But he left off the part that says you can keep it until your COBRA runs out,or you can keep it as long as you can pay the huge Cobra premiums.
How much will COBRA premiums rise without the subsidy? Fasten your seat belt. Premiums will triple. A Department of Treasury study said premiums could rise from an average of $389 to more than $1,100 per month without the subsidy. Do you know that the average cost of a family policy in the United States is more than $13,000. In Canada, and the rest of the industrialized world, if you lose your job, you don't lose your healthcare, but not so in the United States where healthcare remains a privilege not a right.
The administration is rallying its supporter with a $25,000,000 campaign to explain the the American people why this "reform" is just what the doctor ordered. For the sake of electoral politics, I hope they are successful. But they're going to need to be magicians when the facts on the ground tell a story of skyrocketing premiums, ever-increasing co-pays and deductibles, cost shifting from employers to employees, and burgeoning sales of high deductible junk insurance.
It's likely that this week, Secretary Sebilius will roll out the regulations and eligibility requirements for the High Risk Pool, a signature piece The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA). The legislation allocates $5 billion over four years for a temporary high-risk pool to insure those individuals who have problems obtaining coverage because of preexisting conditions. Although about 7 million Americans fall into this category, reports predict that only about 200,000 people will be covered by this program, thereby meeting only about 3 percent of the need. This is not good news, my friends.
At the end of the day, this is what happens when members of Congress insist on building health care reform on our broken highly fragmented system of health care. By insisting that we give first priority to protecting and enhancing the role of private insurers, the policy compromises have resulted in a system that will cost more while leaving far too many with inadequate coverage or no coverage at all.
Again, it didn't have to be this way.
On moral grounds, no one, not even the most partisan Obama supporter, should accept the new status quo of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. We need to fight for myriad improvements and so that Barack Obama will get a second term. And President Obama needs to shore up his base. He does this with progressive legislation which will begin by correcting the huge flaws in the PPACA.
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