West Newsmagazine 4-5-17

6 I OPINION I
April 5, 2017
WEST NEWSMAGAZINE
@WESTNEWSMAG
WESTNEWSMAGAZINE.COM
EDITORIAL
OBAMACARE FIGHT:
Unhealthy, un-wealthy, unwise
The healthcare fight was over before it
started.
Actually, to clarify, the health insurance
fight was over before it started. For the
last 100 years, American citizens have had
access to world-leading healthcare. That is
not what this discussion is about. This fight
is over how that care is paid for, and in
this country, at this time, that means health
insurance.
So why was the battle lost before the
combatants even took the field? Because
the entire discussion was framed around
what people would lose under a new program.
Obamacare became something that
was given to the people, and Trumpcare
was viewed as something that would take
away from the people. Every story led with
how many people might lose insurance or
lose tax subsidies under the Trump/Ryan
plan. This is the exact same scenario that
has played out with every entitlement
program ever foisted into the political
landscape. Once something is “given,” it
becomes nearly impossible to peel it away.
Paul Ryan was unable to make any compelling
argument to the contrary.
To be fair, the Trumpcare plan, as constructed
and proposed, was pretty awful.
It may have actually been a worse version
of Obamacare. The reason behind that
is because the argument made in the first
paragraphs of this editorial is well understood
by politicians of both parties, and
those politicians lack the political courage
to say what they are really thinking.
Both sides dislike Obamacare. Both
sides are aware that it has significant issues
that threaten its long-term viability. Neither
side, however, will come right out and say
what they truly believe because of political
repercussions.
This is why people hate Washington and
why Donald Trump is our president, by the
way. He at least appeared to have the courage
to say almost anything that was on his
mind.
Both sides of the political spectrum
acknowledge that our healthcare system,
caused in large part by our health insurance
system, is wildly overpriced. We pay as
much for administration as we do for care,
and that is absurd. We pay significantly
more per capita than any other nation in the
world. Obamacare did very little to address
this, and in many ways exasperated the
problem. This is all well known, and it is a
point of agreement.
Liberals believe that the way to fix this
problem is to have government manage
the healthcare system completely. They
believe that every person in this country
should have access to “free” healthcare
just like they have access to public education.
This is the single-payer argument and
it is a reasonable position. Conservatives,
on the other hand, believe that the healthcare
system should be market-driven and
less encumbered by regulation. Markets
drive down cost and increase quality every
time they are used, so long as the markets
have sufficient freedom to operate. This is
the private healthcare argument, and once
again it is a reasonable position.
What we ended up with, in both the
enacted version of Obamacare and the
proposed version of Trumpcare, was a
hybrid that combined the worst of both
concepts. Both are highly regulated, multiparticipant
programs that invariably drive
up the cost of administration. The result
is that we never have a discussion around
reducing actual costs of healthcare and
certainly never discuss improving the quality
of care. Instead, we have a discussion
of whose tax incentives are the best and
where those incentives are directed.
We ignore the fact that business owners,
who finance the vast majority of health
insurance in this country, are left out of
both sides of this equation. All because our
political system has lost the ability to have
a conversation.
As President Trump would say, “Sad!”
IN QUOTES
“Something is obviously
working for Mike and
Karen Pence, who have
been married for 31
years despite the kind
of high-power, highdemand
career that has
derailed many other
Washington marriages.”
– Ruth Slater, a Slate
columnist on Vice President
Mike Pence and the socalled
Billy Graham rule.
“We’re all neighbors
and we all need to take
care of each other.”
– Eureka Alderman Wes
Sir, on the formation of a
disaster relief committee
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