The Health Care Debate Debacle (081709) by J. F. Kelly, Jr.

A commentary by J. F. Kelly, Jr. The increasingly strident debate on health care reform, the centerpiece of the Obama domestic agenda, has degenerated into virtual hysteria, generating much heat but little light on the questions troubling Americans. It’s hardly surprising. President Obama, after all, left the job of designing a new health care system to the Congress. Congress couldn’t design a child’s sandbox, let alone something as complex as American health care that accounts for one sixth of the American economy. It’s not that the 535 members of Congress are necessarily incompetent. It’s just that it’s nearly impossible to get them to agree on anything involving a major overhaul. Examples include the last major health care reform attempt during the Clinton administration and the last administration’s aborted attempt at immigration reform. There were lessons to be learned from these failures. People resist sweeping change. They fear the unknown. They prefer the devil they know to the one they don’t. They generally want specific problems fixed, not major overhauls. Most Americans wanted an end to illegal immigration, not an overhaul of the entire system. Similarly, they mostly want reforms in health care coverage so that people who lose their jobs or who have pre-existing medical conditions don’t lose their health care insurance, not a major overhaul of the finest health care system in the world. Transformational change requires transformational leaders who understand how to achieve the consensus necessary for implementing major change. Barrack Obama is a gifted communicator who was very good at persuading people to vote for him but who lacks experience in implementing transformational change in the face of resistance. So far, he has changed nothing in the way that things are done in Washington. What he has done is to spend money that we don’t have at a rate never before seen in this country. Resistance to change is especially strong when most of the people are satisfied with what they’ve got and fear that change will result in some of it being taken away to pay for the change. Change is something they’re all for until it becomes apparent that they themselves may actually have to give something up to cover the inevitable cost. They fear losing their current benefits and with some justification. Expanded coverage means greater cost. Nothing is free. Their growing fears and suspicions are magnified by the volume and complexity of the plans being formulated by Congressional committees and individuals. When people are unable to get clear, definitive answers to their questions, their doubts and fears compound. So when Congress recessed to return to their home districts to sell health care reform to anxious constituents, they got a rude surprise. Town Hall meetings were packed by angry constituents who demanded straight answers and assurances and they grew testy when they got generalities in return. Representatives seemed shocked at the alacrity and emotion. Party leaders blamed conservative talk show hosts and other activists for instilling fear by spreading false rumors and encouraging demonstrations and disruptive behavior like shouting down speakers, a tactic they no doubt learned from watching liberal activists on college campuses shouting down conservative speakers. But it’s an ugly, undemocratic tactic no matter who practices it. Elected officials, even members of Congress, deserve respect and some of the behavior at Town Hall meetings was pure demagoguery with shouting louts obviously playing to the crowd and basking in its applause. But the attendees were concerned enough to be there and ask questions. What does it matter who urged them to attend? The reality is that they were motivated by anxiety over what this overhaul will mean to them, to their families and to the future generations that will have to pay the bills. Warning: You should not take Obamacare if you are concerned over the prospect of rationed care, drastic reductions to Medicare funding and more government intrusion into your life. Read the fine print carefully. Side effects may include dizziness and fiscal hemorrhaging. Ask your doctor if Obamacare is right for you. Prospects for a major health care overhaul are now sinking about as fast as Mr. Obama’s approval rating. It should be obvious now, even to politicians, that a majority of Americans do not want a major overhaul to the best health care system in the world. They want some specific problems addressed like how to cover people who, through no fault of their own, can’t get health care insurance. And they don’t want to lose what they already have as the price of reform. Before they accept changes that must somehow be paid for, either by higher taxes or by diverting funds from other programs like Medicare or both, they deserve some assurances that only U.S. citizens will be covered. Lifesaving emergency treatment should never be denied to anyone, of course, but those here illegally should face deportation once treatment is received. We can no longer afford to provide routine medical care to illegal aliens through our overextended emergency rooms. Abortions should not be funded. Neither should such conditions as erectile dysfunction which TV advertising has managed to transform into a national crisis. Neither should family planning or fertility treatments or marriage counseling or non-essential cosmetic surgery. Finally, we must put strict limits on medical liability lawsuits. Major overhaul is not needed here. Even if it was, we can’t afford it anymore. We’re broke, remember? Specific reforms will have to do. Copyright 2009 by J. F. Kelly, Jr.