Debunking the myths about healthcare reform

Debunking myths about Healthcare Reform

1. “ObamaCare” is a huge government take-over of healthcare

First of all, up until recently, Obama did not put out any reform proposal. From the get-go, Obama asked the congress to come up with reform that achieves three broad goals: expanding coverage, reduce cost, and improve quality. Only recently when Obama saw the stalemate in the Congress, did he put out his own proposal.

By labeling HC reform as “ObamaCare”, some politicians are basically appealing to the raw fear of some fringe group of people about a Black President. These are the people who will oppose to anything from Obama. They don’t even accept Obama as the President of the US.

Is the HC reform proposed by Obama a government take-over?

Far from it! For the futile pursuit of bi-partisanship, Obama even abandoned the idea of a Public Option and National Healthcare Exchange, which are supported by majority of American public. Yet even with that significant compromise, the Republicans are still united against it. What's Bi-partisanship? Bipartisanship means compromise: everyone gives up something to achieve a consensus. But if you say either my way or noway, then that is not bipartisanship.

Obama's HC reform proposal is not a government take-over. It is just a health insurance reform. Almost every HC sector supports it, from the AHA representing hospitals, to the American Medical Association representing doctors, to AARP representing senior citizens, and Phrama representing the biopharmaceutical industry. Guess who is the only party that adamantly against it? The Health Insurance Industry!

2. Expanding coverage to the uninsured is too costly and we can’t afford it

Is it true?

First of all, even without insurance, the uninsured are already costing the HC system. When they get sick, they go to the ER, which costs even more. That cost is actually passed on to all of us in the forms of higher insurance premium. This is called “cost shifting”.

Sure there will be some extra costs to bring these uninsured into the coverage. But in a long term, everyone’s insurance premium could come down, because hospitals don’t have to spend charity care for the costly medical treatments for the uninsured.

Moreover, it is morally wrong not to have universal healthcare. Poor countries like China are doing that. Shame on us if we don’t! We are a country that spends almost half of the world HC spending, yet achieving sub-par HC outcome, and yet not able to cover everyone.

There are broad socioeconomic benefits to have universal HC. Say you have a great business idea, and want to start a new business. Right now, you may be afraid to do that because you will lose your employer-based Health Insurance and leave your wife and children vulnerable. With universal coverage, that would not be a problem.

3. People trust private insurance companies more than they trust the government

Give me a break!

Without government oversight and regulation, do you honestly believe that the insurance won’t deny your necessary care in pursuit of higher profits?

How do insurance companies make money? They make money from the difference between what they collect, or premiums, and what they pay out, or medical claims.

So there are two ways for the insurance companies to make more money: raising the premium, which they often do, and deny medical claims, which they often do too.

Over the last decade, insurance premiums have doubled. Insurance companies actually cherry-pick who they want to cover. They want to cover the healthy ones because they don’t have a lot of medical claims. If you have pre-existing conditions, God help you! If you try to purchase insurance on your own, God help you!

Are you still saying you prefer private insurance over the government? If you do, you are a stupid teabagger with an IQ that matches Sarah Palin’s.

4. 90% of people are happy with their health insurance

Yes, 90% of people are happy with their health insurance, only until they get sick and old, or lose their jobs.

Enough said!

5. Tort reform will solve all the problems

Malpractice insurance is a tiny tinny portion of our national total healthcare spend, which topped 2.5 trillion dollars in 2009. Eliminating malpractice insurance won’t do a din to the total health care cost. Some politicians sound like tort reform is their best reform idea. They are either stupid, or deceitful. You make the judgment.

Final words: HC Reform cannot wait any longer. Our nation has a broken health system. We cannot just pass it over to the next generation. The power of vested interests is too strong. You have to fight for it. It's your future. It's your children's future.