I think the reason the discussion nibbles at the edges is because no one wants to have the real discussion--which is about what entitlement, if any, citizens have to health care
I agree; certainly no one in Washington is ready for that debate. I would say, however, there is a general consensus about some right to health care, based on Judeo-Christian morality. It is immoral to let a sick or injured man die when health care is available, just because he can't pay. Therefore the law obliges emergency rooms to take all comers and there is general public support for Medicaid and Medicare.
Of course, the public wants all the best care available for free and let the other fellow pay! Any real answer will involve hard debate over what constitutes basic care, which our political system is singularly unable to undertake.
What is really galling to me is that here we have a situation where I believe a large majority of Americans are deeply unhappy with the current state of health care and health insurance. The HMOs deliver mediocare care and are failing since they are in essence a Ponzi scheme. Our political systems are not addressing the problem at all. There are improvements that could be implemented that would be acceptable to conservative principles if there were a debate (e.g. large insurance pools, tax deductability for medical premiums for all taxpayers). But these improvements are not even on the table, due, I think, to the influence of large insurance lobbies in Washington. |
