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The majority want health care reform

Posted on August 20, 2009 by Staff

Barlow Herget

To quote that old Republican Ronald Reagan, “There they go again.”

I’m talking about the varied interests that are opposed to national health care reform. They know this is a critical time in the legislative process. The House Energy and Commerce Committee has adopted a plan and adjourned for summer recess. The Senate has also recessed, but has made real progress as well.

While the legislators are home listening to their constituents, we will see millions of dollars in advertising, pages of op-ed columns and letters to the editor, protests and tweets – all trying to scare the public about changing the current system. The general theme is to convince Congress to wait a minute, slow down, don’t do anything rash. This is all too expensive.

That’s the opposition’s moderate approach. In the case of partisan Republicans opposed to President Obama in general, they claim: defeat health care and you cripple Mr. Obama. No matter the tone, the objective is to kill health care reform.

These opponents have no alternative, no compromise, no deal-maker. They simply don’t want to fix the system that a majority of Americans believe is broken.

That majority elected Mr. Obama last November to change the system. Yes, middle-class families who have insurance may be satisfied with their current coverage, but they worry their private insurers will drop them or limit their coverage.

The Great Recession leaves more and more such people every day without medical insurance, and in North Carolina, like the nation, medical bills are the single biggest reason now for bankruptcy.

Mr. Obama reminded people in Raleigh last week that the opponents’ solution – to do nothing – will mean private medical insurance costs will continue to rise and the quality of medical care for all will decline. Remember, too, that our current system is the most expensive per capita in the world and our citizens health ranked 37th — even worse than Saudi Arabia’s!

Congressmen and senators and voters should take the long view. History shows that major social legislation such as Social Security, Medicare, civil rights didn’t end the world. They have changed our country for the better for the great majority of Americans.

Most free-market nations that are like the United States have national health care plans. They have economies as strong as ours. They have not fallen into the oceans.

And neither will this country if it fixes the current, inefficient, high-overhead system. That’s the message voters should give their legislators these next four weeks.

Barlow Herget is a host and commentator at State Government Radio.

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