The mainstream of the Democratic Party, the corporate dominated media and centrist lobbying groups like Health Care for America Now are creating an impenetrable wall on the issue of reform. What is blocked out by this wall of hoopla is the third option on healthcare, the one that actually represents a possible solution to our current morass. If one were to look at the examples of other industrialized countries that offer universal, quality healthcare at about half the cost of the United States, it becomes manifest that our best option lies with a single-payer system. This shouldn't be confused with "socialized" medicine where the government takes over the entire healthcare industry. Rather it means Medicare for all, where the government replaces the private insurance industry with a single risk pool and keeps healthcare delivery in the hands of doctors and hospitals.
With the investment industry nearing a dysfunctional state; with governments (state, local and soon federal) struggling to finance basic services; and with the auto industry on life support largely because of their healthcare obligations, circumstances are propitious for confronting the inefficiencies of the current structure and building a viable, less expensive system that will see us through the hard times ahead. However, the efforts of the centrists to rush Obama's plan through the first hundred days of the new administration are having the effect of confusing the American people and protecting the insurance industry. If the aim of HCAN is to build grass-roots support for change, wouldn't it be just as easy to promote change that serves the interests of the grass roots?
Obama progressives who believe that they are in a position to influence his policies need to be cognizant of this situation. They are up against not only the Republicans and the Health Insurance Association of America but also the centrist Democratic leadership and the president that they just endorsed. It is a moment and an issue where only a progressive solution will do and the left needs to clearly differentiate itself from the center.
A unified Democratic push for single payer would be a difficult enough battle. A divided Democratic party doesn't bode well. But a Democratic initiative that is inadequate and does not fix the problem will be the worst outcome of all, for it will discredit the left and the idea of healthcare reform for years to come.
Author's note: In the last article I wrote on healthcare reform, Why Are We Confused About Healthcare, I stated, "So far HCAN, as it is known for short, has not returned repeated phone calls to explain who is funding them and why they decided on a name that was bound to cloud the truth about their intentions." This was true when I posted the article. Subsequently I was contacted by HCAN and they were very forthcoming about who was funding them and their positions.
In the article I wrote that they were started with half a million dollars in seed money. This was a misunderstanding on my part. In fact they received half a million dollars from each of fifteen members of the steering committee, totaling seven and a half million dollars.
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