Two Issues hurting Health Care Reform

The first Issue is that we don't know what we are fighting for. There is no actual bill and we really don't know if we will like the bill yet.

Robert Reich points this out:

Why are these meetings brimming with so much anger? Because Republican Astroturfers have joined the same old right-wing broadcast demagogues that have been spewing hate and fear for years, to create a tempest.

But why are they getting away with it? Why aren't progressives -- indeed, why aren't ordinary citizens -- taking the meetings back?

Mainly because there's still no healthcare plan. All we have are some initial markups from several congressional committees, which differ from one another in significant ways. The White House is waiting to see what emerges from the House and Senate before insisting on what it wants, maybe in conference committee.

But that's the problem: It's always easier to stir up fear and anger against something that's amorphous than to stir up enthusiasm for it.

The White House has just announced a web page designed to rebut some of the insane charges that the right is instigating. That won't be enough. The President has to be more specific about what he's for and what he's against. Without these specifics, the right can conjure up every demon in its arsenal while the middle and left can only shrug their shoulders.

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Now's the time for specifics. It's impossible to fight fearmongering lies about specifics with nothing but positive principles.

And the second Issue is what Seniors are hearing about reform.

Rick Ungar from the Policy page explains:

A CNN-Opinion Research Corp. poll published last week reveals that a majority of voters over 50 oppose the healthcare overhaul effort, while most voters under 50 support it.

No shock there. The reality of growing older is such that change becomes more difficult to assimilate- particularly when it involves the number one concern of the elderly, their health. As a result, they are highly unlikely to take a leap of faith without feeling comfortable that they understand what change means to them. Unfortunately, proponents of health care don’t seem particularly interested in telling them.

The White House has said that they are counting on about $500 billion in savings from Medicare and Medicaid to finance reform. The President claims this will be done by cutting waste out of these federal programs including getting rid of testing and treatments that don’t result in improving care.

What does a senior hear in all of this? They hear the word “cut” – and that means getting less.

Here is what seniors are not hearing because nobody is telling them. Hopefully, they will not suffer any reduction in available health care because we intend to succeed in more efficiently controlling these government programs. But, if we remain true to form and fail to better control the programs, the results may, in fact, lead to some lessening in health care benefits or cause seniors to pay just a bit more to effectively stay “even.” Not great news but a hell of a lot better than the alternative. Because if we don’t make changes in Medicare, it will run out of money and may very well do so during our current crop of seniors’ lifetime. It most certainly can happen to those over 50 who are not yet participants but are depending upon Medicare to get them through their sunset years.

Not only are we not explaining this to the elderly in a direct and honest fashion, we aren’t directing the conversation to them in any meaningful way whatsoever. Where are the Obama town meetings at a nursing home, or an assisted living center?

When there is a gaping void in the information flow, all our seniors can do is listen to the information that is being provided to them. And the opponents of reform have been all too happy to oblige. Do most of our 65 plus citizens believe that Congress and the President want to create death panels and euthanize people when we don’t want to pay for their care any longer? I doubt it. But when this is all they are hearing, they are highly likely to think that while it may not be death panels, there may very likely be things in the legislation that are not in their best interest.

If you think avoidance of the seniors is a political calculation, you would be wrong. The senior voting block is deeply significant and getting larger every day. They register and they vote!

This shows how much work is needed by Obama and the House and Senate. They must address these two issues if they want to pass a great Health Care Reform Bill. And at this point I don't find the need for it to be bi-partisan. It seems that the GOP doesn't want to reform health care at all. They are just giving lip service to what they see the nation wants.