Health care reform deals with larger issues
Sen. Ben Nelson's townhall meeting on health care reform was enlightening and should have been reassuring for those with some of the main questions, but many more remain.
McCook's hometown senator came down on the side of some of the most contentious issues, saying he would not vote for any plan that provided health insurance for illegal aliens, or which funded abortion.
The so-called "death panels" are dead on arrival, he said, addressing a misunderstood aspect of the health care debate. Nelson said he would not vote for any plan calling for mandatory living wills for Medicare recipients.
And, Nebraska is a leader in tort reform, with laws held up by the American Medical Association as some of the best in the country. Any punitive damages for malpractice go to local school districts rather than to the plaintiffs.
Nelson said he has gone to the sponsors of national tort reform legislation to point out that the proposed laws would pre-empt Nebraska's law, one example of the many "unintended consequences" that could result from hurried health care reform.
The senator correctly pointed out that the United States already has universal health care -- in the form of medical bills for those who use the most expensive form of medical treatment, the emergency room, and are often unable to pay. That treatment, and other types of uncompensated care, is picked up by those who have health insurance.
One uninsured recent father pointed out from the audience that he paid thousands of dollars out of pocket after the birth of his child, asking how the government could force him to buy health insurance.
It should be noted, however, that his child most likely would have received the care he or she needed whether or not the parents were insured -- with the cost borne by the health care system, and ultimately those who have private insurance or who pay taxes. About 12.8 percent of Nebraskans are uninsured, compared to 16 percent nationally, Nelson noted. The goal of health care reform is to bring that down to 3 percent.
A tougher question was the $500 billion the administration hopes to save in payments to Medicare -- through bringing more currently uninsured Americans into the system.
"To say that the government can cut costs to the tune of $500 billion is ludicrous," said one audience member, echoing what seems to be a common perception.
Nelson was more enthusiastic about the prospect of preventative healthcare, pointing to the Union Pacific's experience with reducting the number of smokers in its employ by 40 percent and reducing its medical expenses accordingly.
Nelson noted that both the House and Senate health care reform bills are essentially dead, and the only thing that exists is something called a "chairman's mark," essentially an outline by Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus. Nelson assured the audience that there would be well over 72 hours -- the time specified in a failed Republican amendment, to review any resulting legislation before a vote.
What wasn't mentioned in Nelson's brief townhall meeting -- he had two more the same day -- was how preventative medicine would be implemented, part of the larger picture surrounding health care debate.
How many of us will give up the choice to smoke, or eat unhealthy foods or lounge on the coach, to go exercise just because the government tells us to?
Clearly the health care debate goes to deeper, broader issues than who pays for a visit to the doctor.