by guest blogger Diana Zuckerman, PhD, president of the National Research Center for Women & Families
The term "Obamacare" began as an insult, but now it's the name almost everyone uses to describe the healthcare reform law. Earlier this year, some of Mitt Romney's critics called it RomneyCare, because it was, after all, a descendent of the healthcare program that Mitt Romney developed for Massachusetts. (An excellent program that Romney now says he opposes.)
But let's forget the politics and call it what it is: the health care law that survived the Supreme Court. I like it because:
But somebody has to pay those medical bills, and guess who does? It's you and me and everyone else who goes to that same hospital and pays for care through insurance or with our own money. We aren't asked to donate or pay for medical care for total strangers, we just do it automatically without realizing it because our medical bills secretly include a portion of the costs of those unpaid medical bills of the uninsured.
It's like magic: The fewer uninsured people who get medical care, the lower our healthcare bills will be. There are two solutions: We can lower those bills by 1) having fewer uninsured people or 2) by denying medical care to anyone who won't pay.
Outside the Supreme Court, some Tea Party demonstrators said, "I will NEVER buy health insurance, and nobody can make me." Perhaps we should just say to them, "OK, but please realize that if you or any uninsured family members need medical care because of illness or an accident--even an accident that is not your fault--you can't expect anyone else to pay for your medical care. I'm sorry, but you or your loved one might die because you defended your right to NOT buy health insurance instead of taking advantage of your right to buy affordable health insurance."
In truth, I wouldn't want to have to say that, and I don't think Americans would find that situation acceptable if asked. However, some hospitals do that quietly, by sending patients to other hospitals or sending them back home when they actually are too ill to go home.
The Supreme Court upheld the law, but some states have done almost nothing to implement it. People in those states may end up with few options when they need health coverage. In contrast, states like California, Connecticut, and Maryland are going full-speed ahead to implement the new law in ways that will provide essential health benefits to everyone, with a benchmark plan that's much better than what many Americans currently have.
I won't be insulted if you want to call it Dianacare. I'd be proud to have it named after me because I think the law is good for families across the country. Or perhaps we should call it USACare because finally, our government shows it cares by providing something almost every other country provides, affordable healthcare.
I'm tired of the angry politicians making ridiculous statements about government interference. If they want to abolish the health bill but want to keep Medicare, then they are hypocrites (or worse--perhaps they don't actually understand Medicare). Instead of listening to the political food fights, let's just look at the health care that the law provides and think about how it might help you, a friend or neighbor, or an unemployed 55-year-old who is too young for Medicare but too old to be able to get an affordable health insurance policy.
The bottom line: This law will end some of the worst insurance company practices that have unfairly hurt so many Americans. It will improve healthcare options for women, children, and people with preexisting conditions or disabilities. (Perhaps this is why so many insurance companies and their lobbyists opposed it, through quiet contributions behind the scenes.) It will pay for cancer screening, prenatal care, and other preventive services that could save your life. That sounds pretty good, doesn't it? Let's think about it with an open mind.
Diana Zuckerman is the president of the National Research Center for Women & Families. She received her PhD in psychology from Ohio State University and was a post-doctoral fellow in epidemiology and public health at Yale Medical School. After serving on the faculty of Vassar and Yale and as a researcher at Harvard, Dr. Zuckerman spent a dozen years as a health policy expert in the U.S. Congress and a senior policy adviser in the Clinton White House. She is the author of five books, several book chapters, and dozens of articles in medical and academic journals, and in newspapers across the country.
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The law now provides that all states MUST provide supplemental health insurance for the disabled under 65. Had our state had supplemental insurance for the disabled under 65, I would have funded the insurance myself.
My daughter suffered an anoxic brain injury after a simple retina repair surgery. In the next 16 months, we saw US health care from the underbelly side. She died 16 months after her brain injury, not because of the brain injury, but because of all the medical "errors" and exposure to hospital/institutional associated infections that took a toll on her body.
She was 28 when she died, four classes away from her Masters in Criminal Justice Administration when she suffered her injury.
When my husband went off Cobra and onto SS/Medicare, after over 30 years of coverage, I became uninsurable. I was 57.
In my daughter's honor, proudly support the Affordable Care Act.
While I understand you don't like people getting a free ride, the fact is I'm being offered one by Obamacare and I plan to take it. Can someone elaborate on why I wouldn't take advantage of the free ride being offered to me by Obamacare? And why won't other young and healthy people do the same? I guess there's a "do the right thing" argument or something, but I'd honestly rather show my objection to government coercion by taking advantage of the huge amount of money I can save gaming the system.