My daughter Bret graduated from college in December as a dean's list student and a favorite of her professors because she worked hard and well, and cared about the work she turned into them. And now she is on the job market. With a major in Mass Communications (and a minor in Gender Studies), she followed in her family's footsteps with a desire to work in the Media. The girl's got game, right? She is on the verge of the American Dream -- to create her adult life with the advantages of a solid (and privileged, to some degree) childhood, education, and ability and desire to do good work. To build on this foundation and make her own fortune and mistakes, to follow her dreams, to be true to herself and her values, and to live a life that is meaningful to her.
That's the way it is, right? Or the way it's supposed to be in the United States of America. In this moment of time and consciousness, the USA is the most powerful nation on the planet -- the master of technology. Americans know no bounds, and we can reinvent ourselves both metaphorically and materially.
But Bret has one little problem. She has no health insurance.
How can that be? She was covered by our family insurance as long as we had it, and she was still eligible. After that, we bought student insurance for her. This seemed to be the most practical and cost-efficient answer in keeping her covered. It wasn't insurance like we had in the old days of terrific coverage with low deductibles, when affordable health care in the USA wasn't a long forgotten dream -- but it covered her for the basics that one needs. And she had to use it, though that turned out to be a problem. Then the company that covered her conveniently forgot to send her a bill. (What company doesn't send a bill when they want their money?) They had her street address as well as email. By the time she realized it, a month had passed and they said they couldn't cover her. That month without coverage meant they didn't have to insure her anymore -- and that other insurance companies would look at her warily. When she applied for insurance that we, her parents, would pay for until she was out of school and employed, the old "pre-existing conditions" was brought up. Nothing big -- but that didn't matter.
If for no other reason than this, healthcare legislation must be passed. How many people do you know who have been, could be, or will be denied insurance eligibility because of pre-existing conditions? Sooner or later, it's all of us. It's a good thing I live in France, where health care and its insurance are affordable--and is available to everyone. I even know some Republicans who are talking about leaving the U.S. to come here, partly for that very reason.
With the current health insurance debacle in which the U.S. has become embroiled, our country could be taking the moral high road. We could be doing the right thing. Does that phrase mean anything anymore?
We no longer look like the most powerful nation on earth -- but one of the most backward -- by not taking care of this issue and our people. It's not that we can't make sure each American is covered for his or her health care needs; apparently we don't want to. As usual, Republicans are against healthcare legislation that could relieve this gargantuan predicament that we're in, but since when have Republicans cared about the masses, the common man or woman? S.P. (I will not write her name) would still be mushing some dog team in Alaska if John McCain hadn't sold his country down the river by using her as a last-ditch effort to get himself elected. Thinking Republicans ought to be ashamed to have aligned themselves with this non-thinking Right Winger. And Democrats apparently--and as usual--don't have the balls to make sure sound health care insurance for all gets put in place. Do they? I guess we'll find out. I'd like to double dog dare them.
Roger Cohen wrote a piece in the New York Times the other day decrying our Narcissim:
Americans don't want a European nanny state -- fine! But, as a lawyer friend, Manuel Wally, put it to me, "When it comes to health it makes sense to involve government, which is accountable to the people, rather than corporations, which are accountable to shareholders."
All the fear-mongering talk of "nationalizing" 17 percent of the economy is nonsense. Government, through Medicare and Medicaid, is already administering almost half of American health care and doing so with less waste than the private sector. Per capita Medicare costs for common benefits grew 4.9 percent between 1998 and 2008, against 7.1 percent for private insurers. Why not offer Medicare as a choice -- a choice -- to everyone? Aren't Republicans about choice?
The public option, not dead, would amount to recognition of shared interest in each other's health and of the need to use America's energies and resources better. It would involve 300 million people linking arms.
Or we can turn away from each other and, like Narcissus, perish in the contemplation of our own reflections.
It has been a spectacle unbelievable to other people around the world that we Americans have violently protested against our own best interest -- to not fix our health care system and provide coverage for our citizens who need it--people like you and me and not just the poor.
Making affordable health care available for everyone in our country is personal to me. What about you? Are you willing to sacrifice your children?
More info:
For a great Paul Krugman column about this issue, click here.
For a Los Angeles Times piece, click here.
Beth Arnold lives and writes in Paris. To see more of her work, go to www.betharnold.com. For those interested in hiring an exceptional and bright young woman, check out @bretgraves on twitter. Or contact me at beth@betharnold.com for her info. HBO, she'd be perfect for you!