Obamacare at Last!

The healthcare reform that many of us hoped for in the presidential elections of the 1990’s finally began to become a reality in 2010, just as babyboomers are begin to retire. If fear mongers do not prevail, the me generation will leave behind a legacy besides a memory of their Social Security and Medicare burden on the economy. Unfortunately, it is many of that me generation — my own — who are most upset about Obamacare because they fear it will reduce their own benefits. Let our children and their children fend for themselves!

As our nation adjusts to Obamacare — as it would with any seismic shift — the various elements in our vast social and economic system will gradually make the appropriate adjustments to the new arrangements and we will be better off for it. In the long run, just about any improvement will make our country better off than the inequities and shortcomings produced by our current system, where the top 10% of people receive almost 50% of the wages and where “U.S. households in the top 20 percent of the income distribution own well more than 80 percent of the nation's wealth,” an entirely unnatural circumstance that cannot be explained simply by claiming that those 10-20% worked harder than the rest of us. Furthermore, “Between 1979 and 2005 the real income of the median household rose only 13 percent, but the income of the richest 0.1% of Americans rose 296 percent.”

There is no excuse why a nation as wealthy as ours cannot do a better job of healthcare. We probably have the best healthcare technology in the world; but we do not have the best system for delivering it equitably. We have neither the highest national standards of health nor the highest levels of health insurance coverage. Yet we are the wealthiest nation in the world. Something is very wrong with the way we have been doing things! The way things were done in the past cannot be our guide for the future.

Mostly what I hear when people complain about Obamacare is FEAR – What if this? What if that?

I have only heard arguments about potential costs that might possibly be valid (though in principle I can’t understand why we shouldn’t be willing to pay whatever it costs to do what is right); but these arguments are always met by opposing arguments and cannot be considered persuasive at this point since the actual cost of the Obamacare legislation has been calculated by the CBO to result in a net savings. What if we don’t adhere to the assumptions in the bill? FEAR! FEAR! FEAR!

There are also valid concerns about ever increasing bureaucracy since government programs tend to be self-aggrandizing. What if the Executive overextends his authority? What if Congress does not exercise proper oversight? FEAR! FEAR! FEAR!

Our constitution was born amidst all kinds of similar fears, fears about what might happen if one group or another were to take the nation in one undesirable direction or another; but they created our nation anyway. The only way to make progress is to act with the same kind of courage exemplified by the American founders.

What really gets me is that the Republicans violently resisted the public option of a government sponsored healthcare plan, which would have been the most effective approach to providing healthcare for any American who could not afford other plans — and now they now turn around and complain that the government does not have the right to require that all Americans obtain health insurance! They are making it look like they are determined to make sure that as many people as possible do NOT have healthcare coverage! Their just say no approach to virtually every Democratic proposal in Congress makes them look like the cause of our hamstrung government.

It looks to me like we need to get the public option clarified in Congress, which means we still need another strong Democratic majority at least one more time. This issue is not really over yet. And we don’t just need any Democrat in office. We need public option Democrats and we need this issue settled dramatically. Either that, or the Republicans are going to have to settle down and confirm the principle that we will require all Americans to obtain health insurance. This may well be the last chance the insurance industry has to clean up its act.

I’m no expert, but the way the US Constitution reads in plain English is,

We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility… promote the general welfare… do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America. [Article I, Section 1] All legislative powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives. [Section 8] The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes… and provide for the… general welfare of the United States.

It seems obvious to me that requiring everyone to obtain health insurance falls within these guidelines. Congress has the right to legislate and tax for the general welfare of all US citizens. I don’t see how there can be serious debate about the ultimate legal outcome of this any legal challenge. Why do people want to waste taxpayer dollars on it? Why do taxpayers approve of such frivolous waste of their taxes?

Our nation can afford whatever we set our minds to paying for. Most of the money out there is just the result of subjective calculations. The value of the dollar is based on guesswork, not objective reality; but it creates objective realities. Economics is a mental construct. It consists of our self-reflection on our behavior, and as such allows us to adjust that behavior. That is why the stock market sways with every bit of news affecting it. But that is also why economic reflection involves moral choice; and it is why we can also decide to find a way to afford Obamacare if we want it, if we consider it a morally good thing..

Our own inner sense of shared moral responsibility for fellow human beings will decide whether we will embrace Obamacare. We already have decided that defending our fellow citizens with military action is worthwhile, which is why we have the best military in the world and have engaged in many wars and conflicts. Now we have to decide whether we are truly committed to protecting our investment with the best healthcare system in the world.

Obamacare is the first step towards what we should have been doing all along. It is the right thing to do.

Obamacare at last!