I’m shocked—shocked—to report that a politician is lying about healthcare and money. Today’s culprit? Governor Bill Richardson who tells us we can grab a couple of band-aids, fix the healthcare mess, and walk away richer in the bargain.
These lies don’t seem to serve him politically either in the short-run or the long-run. In the short-run, he whiffs his opportunity to stand out in the pack. In the long run, his lies will sour his relationship with the American people on their top issue.
We'll take a look, cross-posted at the National Nurses Organizing Committee/California Nurses Association’s Breakroom Blog, as we organize to make 2007 the Year of GUARANTEED healthcare on the single-payer model.
Here’s his plan: mandate people purchase insurance, make a bunch of small-ball reforms, and magically claim to pay for it with a savings of $110 billion.
The big lie here is that we can make this current healthcare system affordable and economically rational. We can’t. The whole racket is run by the insurers to rake one-third of care dollars off the top and short-change patient care.
The other big lie is that we’d all be better off if the insurance industry had more customers. We wouldn’t. They’re the ones who broke our system in the first place; we need to rescue it from them.
The economic lie: Richardson says the average family will save 10% on their premiums, the nation will save $110 billion, we’ll get better care...and the insurance industries will still be around rolling in record profits
How’s it work? Consumers will presumably save 10% on premiums because Richardson will crack down on the insurers, and turn them into kind-hearted do-gooders. Beyond that, consumers will face a great risk shift:
...employers will be required to do their fair share to contribute to a healthy and covered work force, a sliding-scale tax credit will be available for Americans who need help affording coverage, and American families will get immediate relief from high interest rates for medical debt placed on credit cards.
Let me summarize this sentence: ‘screw you, patients/taxpayers/voters.’ We’re shifting risk onto you. You’re getting a tax break which is really an insurance industry subsidy, and we’re going to make it easier--and likelier--for you to carry much more medical debt.
But the big whopper? Richardson says he’ll be able to find $110 billion to pay for his small ball reforms, such as upgrading Medicare and VA care. Where’s the money come from?
By streamlining health care administration ($57 billion per year) and investing in prevention ($52 billion per year), this plan will save Americans $110 billion per year, which will be invested into quality, affordable health care for all....Investing in health information technology through 21st Century Health Care Bonds, saving $22 billion per year
What was the last major IT upgrade that ended up saving money? And how are you going to save $57 billion in admin while leaving untouched the monstrous insurance bureaucracy?
Since the money side of the plan works so well, Richardson justifies his compulsory purchase of health insurance:
The reforms described here will provide all Americans with a choice of affordable, quality health care coverage. When affordable coverage is available, individuals and families should obtain it to avoid shifting their health care costs onto other people. Therefore, Bill Richardson will phase in a requirement that all Americans obtain coverage for themselves and their families by the end of his first term.
I guess it depends on who’s defining affordable and quality, right?
Plans like this may be why Warren Buffet is buying up health insurance corporations.
At least Richardson provides us some comic relief saying,
"My plan does not build a new bureaucracy. The last thing we need between patients and doctors is another sticky web of red tape." He’s apparently quite satisfied with the bureaucracy we suffer under now.
For an opposing view point, may I suggest he read the opinion piece written by business owner Jeff Watkins in today’s Atlanta Journal-Constitution:
The single greatest threat to the existence of my company and the livelihoods of the 42 people who work with me is the relentless greed, inefficiency and brutality of an insurance industry run amok.
To join the fight for guaranteed healthcare (with a "Medicare for All" or SinglePayer financing), visit GuaranteedHealthcare.org, a project of the National Nurses Organizing Committee/California Nurses Association.