For what little the opinion of a guy who used to write Daffy Duck comic books may be worth, I've come to think that the current incarnation of the Health Care Reform bill ain't bad and might even turn out to be fairly good. It's probably bad compared to what it should be but it's not bad compared to what the Republicans (and a few red-state Democrats) want it to be…or to doing nothing, which would be pretty much the same thing. This post and this one by Nate Silver did a lot to bring me around to that viewpoint after I listened to Howard Dean yesterday. I also read a few posts which I can't find right now which dangled the following faint hope; that after they get this passed, Democrats could use the reconciliation process to ram through a few more cost-controlling measures.
I wonder if, by the way, Dr. Dean really meant that the bill should be killed…or if that was just his way of firing a warning shot that said, "Don't weaken it any further." He had to know that if this one went down to defeat, it would be a long time — like not in many substantially-shortened lifetimes — before a better one could be enacted. One hates to think what insurance prices would be then…and how far out of reach they'd be for many.
Yes, much of it probably amounts to a huge bailout/giveaway for insurance companies that are already making mega-profits off our unavoidable illnesses. It was kind of a pipe dream that it could be otherwise. They control this game…and since we get sick and have to play it, we play by their rules. Our elected officials simply get too much money from those interests to ever do anything that will stop them from making more money. That's pretty obvious when you note President Obama's reversal on a campaign pledge to allow the reimportation of prescription drugs. It would save the government a lot and it would save you and me even more…maybe even make life-saving medications affordable for some who need them. But that would cut into Pfizer grosses so forget about it. Ain't gonna happen.
(And don't you just love the rationale? "We couldn't guarantee the safety of imported prescription drugs." In this country, we eat imported cheeses. We drink imported wine. We wear imported clothes. We drive imported cars. But we have to be protected from possible danger if our Prilosec, which is made here, came to us via a pharmacy in Canada.)
So yeah, we're getting screwed. But a lot of people who didn't have health insurance before will have it now. You can't ignore that. It may be expensive but even if it is, think about how much we'd willingly spend to prevent another 9/11. On a cost-per-life-saved basis, this may be a lot cheaper.