Healthcare Reform Debate Has Begun
It’s official. The nation’s healthcare system is in crisis and President Barack Obama vowed, on his campaign trail, to fix it. He’s taken the first step toward doing just that by convening representatives from his White House Cabinet, Congress, the medical and insurance communities, and the public. The healthcare reform debate has begun in earnest.
In his opening address to the gathered summit members, Obama said negotiations and their outcome will be different this time, referring to attempts at healthcare reform during the early years of the Clinton Administration. His mission is threefold:
- Dramatically expand insurance coverage to the 46 million Americans currently without it;
- Improve overall quality of care; and
- Rein in skyrocketing medical costs draining the budgets of individuals and families, businesses, and the government.
The president is urging members of the summit to look beyond health care alone and the nation’s moral responsibility to provide adequate care to all its citizens but to remember that the crisis in the medical industry contributes tremendously to the nation’s current economic crisis, too. Current spending is about $2.3 trillion per year nationwide, accounting for a whopping 16% of the gross domestic product. These figures represent the largest per capita expenditure on health care on the planet but dollars spent do not equate to quality of care. Living longer and healthier are two major criteria for determining quality of care but, in most other industrialized nations, the average citizen outlives the average American and enjoys a healthier life along the way.
In his proposed national budget, Obama has designated $634 billion, to be spread over a 10-year period, for healthcare reform. The purpose of this summit is to determine exactly what reforms need to be made, how to make those reforms, and how to fund the reformation.
Acknowledging his expectation of a long and heated debate, the president has asked all involved to accept the impossibility of a plan perfect for everyone and, instead, to avoid making “the perfect the enemy of the good.” He also reiterated his invitation to evaluate all ideas presented from every source.
