'Uniquely American' Is Code for Killing Healthcare Reform

Just like “All American” type gal-Friday or receptionist was code for discrimination in employment advertisements a few decades ago, so is “Uniquely American” code for preventing a Medicare-for-all government option for individual health insurance. Opposition politicians have uniformly adopted the need for a uniquely American approach to healthcare reform when the “this is not the time” delaying campaign failed to gain momentum.

President Obama responded to the calls for delay by light heartedly saying it is not the time for healthcare reform during good times, bad times, peace times and war times. It is never the right time regardless of the economy. The President also recognized that private insurers feared competing with a government run plan, but did not concede. The President called for a prominent role for private insurers while not allowing them to promote the government option as a path to Canadian and European style healthcare. Both sides excelled at fine tuning their rhetoric.

Everyone fronted a positive attitude at Thursday’s White House Healthcare Summit. The private insurers agreed to eliminate their underwriting practices if everyone was mandated to carry health insurance, and the government subsidized the purchase of insurance from only private carriers. Doctors and Hospitals did not want a further “cram down” of reimbursements from an expansion of Medicare to people under 65, but claimed they wanted to be part of the solution. Pharmaceutical company supported politicians were concerned about comparative drug benefits without adequate clinical studies. Everyone had a positive-but attitude.

I was enthusiastically surprised with Obama’s determination to pass healthcare reform this year. He clearly stated that now is precisely the time for change and that the country does not have too much on its plate. Now that delay is not an option, all the players are jockeying for position and the President is giving them enough rope to hang themselves before he moves in for the kill. Perhaps I was wrong in underestimating Obama’s political savvy and determination on healthcare. Previously I believed that only Hillary Clinton had the will and perseverance to make it happen.

I wrote previously that private health insurers will have a difficult time justifying their value, but at least they’re making a valiant effort. They appear to be selling a delicate mix of fear and optimism to both politicians and the American people. Bloomberg’s “GE, Siemens Will Fight Obama Plan to Cut Costs of MRIs, X-Rays” reports that General Electric (GE) wants to be anything but subtle in fighting the reduction in superfluous medical imaging. GE is mounting the political fight of its life to protect more than half of its 17.4B healthcare revenue. GE is risking tarnishing its good boy image by not learning from the more savvy attendees of the healthcare summit.

Most stakeholders are showing great skill in their efforts to derail the healthcare reform process. They all “want” reform with caveats. While none wants to concede any profits, they have yet to show investors how they can profit under an inevitable alternate reimbursement structure. The private healthcare industry is still pretending that they can defeat the President.

Disclosure: Author is long GE.

Comments

[The Geoffster:]

Universal health care supported by taxpayers will be wonderful for the uninsured but misery for the currently insured. After free health care, can subsidized car loans and liability insurance be next? How about property insurance for all? Flat screen TVs maybe? It won't be long before some politician tries to guarantee life spans.

Mar 08 04:02 PM

[ccerenz2:]

Why is it that every person in America "deserves" healthcare? Shouldn't they have to earn something? It's one thing if a person has a job and a family...they could be accorded some help. But the fat and lazy bums watching Jerry Springer should not be subsidized by the earnest and hardworking.

Mar 08 06:23 PM

[DM32:]

It is never right for one person to reach into the pocket of someone else in the name of social justice. The real questions are "Where does it end?" and "Who has the right to take over 50% of another persons income to pay for all this government largess?" The answers are "Never" and "Nobody"! I think healthcare reform would be great if it wasn't code for government run and subsidized healthcare.

Mar 08 06:31 PM

[DG1099:]

The big overlooked issue with healthcare is that it is not a true capitalist system. In America we a hospital cannot turn down a person that shows up in the emergency room. Since this is the case, we are already funding healthcare for the uninsured by paying higher premiums on our insurance. Add to this the fact that the American government through Medicare and Medicaid pay for the most seriously ill patients and it is a completely unfair "market" where the government and tax payers are paying for the profits of insurance companies.

We either need to allow hospitals to turn away patients that do not have insurance or we need to allow the government the ability to insure younger Americans that typically give insurance companies their biggest profits. That is only fair.

Mar 08 07:12 PM

[DG1099:]

It will be interesting how much pressure GE puts on healthcare reform if they end up having to take government bailout money because of GE Capital problems.

Mar 08 07:15 PM

[I'm Not Jim...:]

Where will the money come from? "The government" won't pay for healthcare. You and I will through tax increases. If and when this economy recovers, which it certainly will at some point, look for extreme rampant inflation because the numbers just don't work on any level. You can raise taxes on "the rich" but that won't pay for the bailout and the expansion of government together. By then it will be the 2010-2012 election season so taxing the middle class will be off the table. Look for devaluation of the currency on a scale not seen since the Carter years.

Mar 09 12:42 AM

[lovethelang...:]

There are countries that spend half of what we spend on health care with comparable if not better care. It's not a matter of "deserving" health care; it's about being decent human beings instead of selfish greedheads. Everyone should have health care and yes, you can raise my taxes to achieve it.

Mar 09 09:03 AM

[americaninc...:]

Most of the young people who are uninsured have chosen that path because the usually are healthy. Insurance is fine for catastrophes, and catastrophic high deductible health insurance is not expensive in US for families. But people want to be insured against the slightest cost, whether for a sore throat or a missed vacation. That insurance is expensive. No country has better care than US, that is why so many foreign wealthy come the the US for care.

Mar 09 09:52 AM

[tafricano:]

Interesting....the government wants to expand a healthcare program(medicare) to provide benefits to all of the nations uninsured. Last time I checked medicare and medicaid for that matter were seriously broken, i.e. underfunded. That also applies to social security as well. So the Obama solution is for more Americans to suckle from the federal nipple. This is change we can believe in. If anyone is interested in what this healthcare will look and feel like I suggest you spend just 5 minutes in the nearest county hospital or local medicaid healthcare clinic. Thanks but no thanks.

Mar 09 12:01 PM

[Buckoux:]

The genius of America is its ability to convert what was once a luxury, such as the telephone and residential electricity, into a necessity by way of the utility business model and by doing so get beyond the socialism issue. A "utility" is, essentially, a government regulated private monopoly and is the actual "Third Way" between pure capitalism and onerous socialism. The actual necessity being provided is the payment for health care, rather than the actual care itself, therefore the insurance companies should be "utilitized", hospitals rendered as non-profits and doctors as private practitioners.

The Continental USA should be divided into five "insurance utility" regions to avoid centralization and provide some competition between the five insurance utilities. Payments to an individuals health insurance utility begin at eighteen years of age* and/or the birth of each child and are transferable to any region of the USA. The "utility" will be a public company with stocks issued on major securities exchanges just as Edison and Sempera Energy. Rates would be regulated by the ubiquitous "public utilities commissions" of each region. The stocks are freely traded and will pay dividends to attract institutional investors such as public employee benefits organizations and union pension funds. The shortfalls will be paid by the federal government to maintain both funding and, hopefully, oversight of both the utility and the regulatory commissions.

Issues: OK, this is expensive! So is what we have now and so is what we will have under any socialized, "single payer" programs. There is no way around costs, only through them. This model puts all the parties on the same page. *Payment of premiums at eighteen. Look, we make males register for the draft at eighteen. We can require every eighteen year old to register, male and female. Their "draft number" is their medical insurance number and premium billing number. Their premiums should be deducted from their wages just as is income tax. Those working for themselves pay quarterly, or monthly if they desire, just as those of us do who work for ourselves. The actual care however, is as private as possible.

No, it's not perfect. It's neither fee-for-care or national health, but no model is perfect. It's just life, we don't get "perfect" in this life. However, "very good" would be satisfactory. My 2¢.

Mar 09 02:45 PM

[LeftyLarry:]

I don't get it.
When I was 21, I went 10 years (until I was married) without healthcare insurance.If I was ill, I went to the DR. and paid him.
Now, my other 50-60 year old friends go to the DR. with every hang nail and check their cholestrol every 20 minutes.
I don't get it.
We have the best health care in the world and we can't wait to ruin it.
Can't wait to be invloved in the same systems they have in other countries where they tell you, "Yep, you might have Cancer, come back in 14 weeks and we'll see if we can get you an MRI."
For the Democrats, IMO, this is about bigger Goverment, more control and about covering millions of Illegal immigrants who will just keep arriving to take advantage of free medical.

Mar 09 04:05 PM

[ArtfulDodger:]

Hey ccerenz2:

"Universal healthcare" is nothing when you think that the last two administrations had millions of people believing they were entitled to a house. Look where that got us!

When you look at it that way I suppose socialized medicine will be cheaper for the productive class than buying a home for everyone in the parasitic class.

Mar 12 01:00 PM

[blonde molly:]

LeftyLarry:

you said it best! good comment!

Mar 15 03:08 AM

[corners:]

Funny. Guess you haven't been to a hospital before.Or you also dotn read or watch the news. People wait in line hours already and many many people die that had and paid for insurance. You probably get your insurance thru your work which is subsidized by ..... the tax payers . I guess i could see how you think insurance is cheap.

Newsflash. We already pay for illegals and those w/o the funds. I dont like it but it happens already.The fact that you think its all fine and dainty to profit off peoples miseries is a joke. Or that the us government takes all the customers big insurance doesn't want while they cherry pick the healthy people like yourself at the tax payers expense. You cant come up with a better explanation on how to add competition to a market that hasn't heard that word in decades other then crying
"Government take over" and "Bureaucrat" . Like we don't have some pimply smuck with a tie just out of high school denying us care already.

Times running out. The middle class is facing the brunt of high costs now which is why we see suck a push back on the old ways. Its only time.


On Mar 09 04:05 PM LeftyLarry wrote:

> I don't get it.
> When I was 21, I went 10 years (until I was married) without healthcare
> insurance.If I was ill, I went to the DR. and paid him.
> Now, my other 50-60 year old friends go to the DR. with every hang
> nail and check their cholestrol every 20 minutes.
> I don't get it.
> We have the best health care in the world and we can't wait to ruin
> it.
> Can't wait to be invloved in the same systems they have in other
> countries where they tell you, "Yep, you might have Cancer, come
> back in 14 weeks and we'll see if we can get you an MRI."
> For the Democrats, IMO, this is about bigger Goverment, more control
> and about covering millions of Illegal immigrants who will just keep
> arriving to take advantage of free medical.
>

Jul 30 04:41 PM