Kudos for Cojones!

Our President called a joint session of Congress last night, and finally took the reins on guiding health care reform through the legislative obstacle course. We expected his usual eloquence, but we were gratified, to say the least, at the strength he displayed.

Early indicators show that many concerned people of America felt reassured by his comments. That could be because he put the lie to the lies that have been floated out there by opponents of health care reform. It could also be because he repeated that he believes a public option is necessary to keep insurance companies from maintaining their price gouging - increasing premiums 2.5 times faster than inflation.

You see, a lot of the disapproval the President faced in all those Gallup and NBC and Zogby polls was from people who felt he didn’t go far enough in reforming a critically ill system. We were buoyed by the tenor of his speech, and by the specifics he outlined.

We do have some questions remaining, though. And here we speak as part of the 47 million uninsured in America.

It seems everyone, Republicans and Dems and independents alike, agree that we have to force insurance companies to accept people with pre-existing conditions. That’s good news for us, but will they also limit the excessive premiums they can charge based on health history? We were getting raised 20% every year on premiums that had already been “rated” to higher rates than the base charged people with no pre-existing conditions. If an insurance company offers us a policy that covers us completely, but costs $2000 per month, what good will that do us? We’d like to see assurances that there will be some plan we can afford.

There was also mention of some sort of catastrophic plan offered to the uninsured during the run up to the 2013 implementation. It might be better than nothing, but if there are high deductibles for ordinary preventive care, like mammograms and colonoscopies and the well-worn ear ache scenario, we will see four more years of people failing to get early care, leading to the unnecessary catastrophes those plans are designed for.

Out-of-pocket limits, also mentioned, won’t address that issue either, unless they are truly reasonable. Who is going to determine what that sum is? If we leave it to insurance companies, just remember what they have been up to all these years, penalizing for pre-existing conditions, inflating premiums, and denying payments for made-up reasons.

They squeezed us for as much as they could, and no doubt about it, they will continue to do so. Rules without limits won’t be enough. Competing with a non-profit, no frills entity is the only thing that will keep them from strangling us – both individuals, and our national economy. Virtually no other modern democracy in the world allows private companies to make a profit from basic health care insurance.

This morning the President’s foremost opponents have cranked up the attack machine again.

Rep. Charles Boustany tried to reprise his lackluster performance last night in his rebuttal to the speech, insisting that the “bill is deeply flawed” -- as usual, there were few specifics and no alternatives.

Minority leader John Boehner tried to tell us again that the President’s plan will get the government involved in delivery of health care; that insurance companies will have to have all plans approved by the government within 5 years; that “illegals” will be covered at taxpayer expense.

Apparently some lies just won’t die, if Republicans have anything to say about it.

Illegals can buy insurance privately now. That won’t change. If Blue Cross is willing to take their money, they’ll still be able to do that. (If any of you have traveled outside the United States, you probably bought a supplementary insurance package to cover you while you were away from home. Does that help you understand how illegals will be covered after the reform takes place?)

Perhaps we could just post some Border Patrol officers at every emergency room to deport any illegal who shows up with a gunshot wound or heart attack? (And which would cost more, an air ambulance to return them to their home country, or emergency room care?)

President Obama declared that not a dime would be added to the deficit – Republicans don’t believe it. No mystery here - because THEY COULDN”T DO IT, they don’t believe anyone else can!

One subject raised by the Opposition and NOT addressed last night was the removal of barriers to interstate marketing of insurance. The market is quite monopolistic with the current rules. One company owns 80% of the Alabama market, with 40-to-75% one-carrier dominance in many other states. Removing restrictions on interstate competition would no doubt achieve more competition in the early going, possibly leading to lower premiums across the board. But if history is any predictor, as time goes by companies will begin to swallow each other, leading to fewer competitors, and we could be back where we started from.

Finally, Joe Wilson. We heard the word “shame” this morning – a word we don’t hear much these days in relation to Congress – describing what Congressman Wilson should feel today. Something tells us he doesn’t.

The so-called apology amounted to “I was told by the leadership to call the White House and say my remarks were inappropriate, and I did” – that’s an apology? We don’t believe it was at all sincere...but President Obama graciously accepted it at face value.

Not once did a Democratic congressman or senator call out “You lie!” when George Bush addressed congress in the leadup to the war, or after, and they had a lot more reason to do it than Wilson had. Even folks from my dear state of South Carolina were taught by their mamas not to show disrespect to the President.

Worse, while McCain and Hatch said he should apologize to Congress, some other Republicans, notably Michael Burgess, are saying what Wilson did was OK.

And they want President Obama to pursue “bipartisanship”. Get real. Mr. President, keep up the good fight for the American people. We appreciate it.

JM