The U.S. Senate is very busy congratulating itself, slapping each other on the back for the Christmas present that they rushed through to give this nation. Let’s go ahead and open that gift. The little tag says:
TO: The American People
FROM: Your Elected Representatives
Let’s have a look at what they bought us with our money. The gift wrap says “Health Care Reform” all over it. But as I peel back the wrapping paper, the box underneath looks like it might be a science kit. How exciting! I expected something like another purple and green necktie. Look at this!
Wait, it’s actually two boxes! Double score? No, we still have to put them together.
Opening the box, I find we still don’t really know what all is in there. Tons of little parts, nuts and bolts and widgets and gadgets. Nebraska gets free Medicare increases in perpetuity, for example. And what’s this? Looks like the insurance companies can’t “discriminate” against pre-existing conditions by charging more. Wonder how that will fit in. Most likely, they charge more for EVERYONE, so that the pre-existing conditions aren’t being singled out; We’ll all be equally overcharged. Hrm… I could be mistaken, but it looks like something crucial is missing: Where is the Tort Reform? How can we possibly have Healthcare Reform without stopping greedy individuals from mercilessly badgering the healthcare providers?
In the real world outside of Washington, D.C., creatures evolve, become more and more refined by means of natural selection. So when two capable and similar creatures come together, the hybrid may very well be an improvement. But putting together a duck and an anteater would be a disaster. What could be worse? Putting together two entirely untried Health Care systems. Neither the House nor the Senate is borrowing from a working model. Even if they were, combining the two into one “system” is likely to have pieces working against each other, at odds with each other. In short, what our Congress has given us is two experiments. When they combine the two sets, what do you suppose the result will be?
People’s reactions are strong. Some say that this is a great day for America. Others claim that it’s Socialism. The simple truth is that none of us knows what is in the bills as they were passed, let alone what the two halves of Congress will create when they try to unite them and put the two science kits together into one creature.
By far the greatest likelihood is that they’ll end up with the Frankenstein Monster. Remember how it was clumsy, brutal in its use of force, uncoordinated, and the townspeople hated it? It may have been well-intended, but it still was destined for failure and destruction.
What we have been given for Christmas is far worse than a green and purple necktie. Make it loud and clear that you don’t want this ill-formed Frankenstein Monster health care. Take a stand NOW, before it’s too late and we’re all saddled with a misbegotten bureaucracy that will take decades to dismantle, while helping virtually and literally no one.
No healthcare reform can be functional without Tort Reform. Medical Justice will continue to fight for its members, but the real solution is in a healthcare system which is well-considered and comprehensive, coordinated and functional. We’re paying for this holiday gift. Let’s be certain that we get what we’re paying for.
