The Political Piracy of Health Care Reform

Let me state openly and at the outset that I do not favor the current bill, and in particular the public option, as currently put forward. I do, however, strongly believe that we need to address the menagerie of problems in what we refer to collectively as the U.S. health care system.

The current “debate” over health care reform is a carefully orchestrated, well devised cover for the retrenchment of the extremes within the two major political parties. In other words, the debate isn’t about reform – whether or not we need it or even what it should look like. It is, sadly, a political debate cleverly cloaked within an issue that is of vital importance to all American citizens. It is a red herring of leviathan proportions.

On the far right, you have loud cries of the onslaught of “statism” and a fully nationalized health system, and all the negatives which that could possibly imply. On the far left you have cries of unchecked corporate greed, and cold disregard for those in need, the most economically brutish examples of “us vs. them”. Both familiar, both loud, and both are cleverly constructed misdirection bolstered by only the smallest kernels of truth. They are also very much political sleight of hand. Three Card Monte, and we’re the rube on the street.

Most Americans can readily agree that under the umbrella which we refer to as a health care system is a dizzying matrix of insurance providers & coverages (employer paid and individual, governmental), medical providers, hospitals, pharmaceutical companies, legal complexities (malpractice, defensive medicine, patient rights, provider rights/obligations, manufacturer & product liability, HIPAA, etc.), third party billers/providers, tax ramifications and more.

There is no single solution – government run or otherwise. Yet both political parties would ask you to believe there is. We didn’t create this mess overnight, why do they want us to believe that it can, or should, be fixed with an expediency which avoids, and I argue seeks to abandon, scrutiny and transparent detail and seems to be absent long-term sustainability?

Most of us want less complexity, greater transparency, true access, and true accountability in how we use and pay for health care. We don’t want an insurance company representative or a government employee reading from a policy manual script to determine our access to care, our payment obligations and structures and most especially the medical care itself. We don’t want the quality of our care to be determined, in part, by our employer because our insurance is tied to our job.

I was astounded, actually appalled, at the call to boycott Whole Foods simply because the CEO, John Mackey, had the audacity to put forth his opinion on potential solutions, yes plural, to address the myriad problems which play into the need for reforming how we access and pay for health care in this country. The call to boycott was all about political alignment. The calls to boycott had ZERO relationship to the ideas put forth, other than that they were not in lockstep agreement with the Obama administration's plan. Huh?

They want us to boycott a business because the CEO puts forward alternative suggestions that actually have detail and substance simply because they don’t fall into the political agenda?

Ironically, this is the very same business that is often touted as a model for responsible corporate policies. How fickle. How false. How disheartening. Yet what better example that the “debate” we are bombastically bombarded with is about politics and not solutions.

What happened to the need for dissent? Heck, what happened to the idea of working together to solve common problems? Forget reaching across the aisle, how about reaching out to us, the constituents? Why shouldn't we give consideration to ideas from a major employer (to be more accurate, the CEO as an individual) - the very entity all too often tasked with choosing, administering and substantially paying for our medical insurance?

I urge everyone to sit down and think about what changes they would like to see and also those they feel they need to see. Then put pen to paper, or fingers to keyboards, and write your elected representatives at both the Federal and the State level.

Perhaps if enough of us do so then a stark reality might hit home. That if our elected officials stop worrying about looking good for elections (and sound bites), and start doing good for the people, their re-election will take care of itself.

I say to all elected representatives, stop worrying about reflecting party ideology and start worrying about the people. You were elected to make a difference. Now go do it.