2010: Healthcare Reform at Last!
It has been a long time coming, but legislation reforming the US healthcare system will likely be realized in 2010. While the law will likely be passed in 2010, many of its provisions and actionable items won’t be enacted until 2014 (at least in the current bill). I hope that negotiations between the House and Senate change the start date and that the law takes effect in 2010.
I refrained from commenting on healthcare reform until now because, as a progressive who vehemently supports a public option (at the very least), I was very angry and frankly, let down by the unfulfilled promises made by President Obama during his presidential campaign. However, after seeing the despicable and repugnant exhibited by both Republican and Democratic senators (most notably Lieberman and Hogan) during the debate on healthcare reform, it finally dawned on me that Obama had little choice but to chart the course that he ultimately chose to follow to insure that healthcare reform became a reality. Put simply, it is obvious to me, that congressional not presidential reform will be necessary to right a broken system and put the US back on a track to prosperity. It has become increasingly obvious that lobbying by special interest groups has corrupted the system and our congressional representatives are no longer voting their conscience but voting on behalf of the powers at be who finance their re-election campaigns. While seasoned politicos will argue that I am naive and that this is the way that business has always be done, there comes a time when a system is so broken that it simply needs to be changed in the best interests of ALL Americans.
Earlier in the year, I had a discussion with a friend who, despite his undying support for a public opinion, suggested to me that any legislation passed to reform healthcare wouldn’t contain one. In response, I quipped, “then I hope that there isn’t any healthcare reform at all!” Since that declaration, my opinion (and that of some other progressives) has changed—mostly because I and others have come to realize that from a historical perspective, fundamental change in America doesn’t usually come neatly packaged in a single bill or law. Instead, change occurs incrementally and evolves over time. Realizing this, and the likelihood that the Democrats may lose their 60 vote majority in the senate in midterm elections, President Obama divined a healthcare reform strategy that he knew he could deliver by 2010. His informed and pragmatic approach to healthcare may not be what progressives like me envisioned but he will be the first US President to accomplish healthcare reform in almost 80 years! And, at the very least, 30 million Americans who previously didn’t have any health insurance will now be covered under the new law. This will be an important first step in the process to begin to overhaul the US healthcare system.
Hat tip to President Obama!
Until next time....
Good Luck and Good Job Hunting!!!!!!!!!
It is amazing the things you learn if you pay attention from time to time. While attending a meeting on e-healthcare last week in Philadelphia I learned that according to the American public the pharmaceutical industry is less popular than the banking industry. This was startling to me given that the recent financial collapse was caused almost entirely by the banking industry. That the pharmaceutical industry is more reviled than the banking industry suggests that life sciences company have a bit of PR work to do. But, not to worry, people still hate the oil industry more than the pharmaceutical industry.
