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The White House reexamines the major issues regarding health care reform that it compiled a year ago when beginning this process and how this impending bill would address those issues. In short, they're pandering to their base. ;) Where the Road to Health Reform BeganPosted by Jen Cannistra on December 29, 2009 at 11:05 AM EST About a year ago, those of us working on the Presidential Transition were taking the first steps on the road towards reforming our health care system under the Obama Administration. We knew that this wasn’t an academic issue or an issue just for the political scoreboards – we had to hear from the American people first on exactly what problems they were facing, and what they wanted to see changed. And so in December 2008, we invited Americans across the country to host and participate in Health Care Community Discussions to talk about the problems they faced with the health care system and proposed solutions. Over 9,000 Americans in all 50 states and the District of Columbia signed up during the holiday season to host a Health Care Community Discussion, coming from every walk of life – patients, doctors, nurses, religious leaders, first responders, and small business owners. Robert from Indiana explained, “Our neighbors include a broad and diverse cross-section of America. Within a few miles we have steel mills, inner cities, suburbs, and farms...Our event will demonstrate…the level of understanding among Americans regarding the need for access by all Americans, and ideas for achieving that goal.” Elizabeth from South Carolina noted that her discussion would “show everyone that even the true middle class is really struggling with this issue.” Across the country, over 30,000 friends, family, neighbors, and co-workers gathered in homes, offices, coffee shops, fire houses, universities, and community centers to discuss reforming our health care system.
After each Health Care Community Discussion, hosts were asked to submit the results of a Participant Survey as well as a report that summarized the group’s main concerns and suggestions. The health reform team and a group of dedicated volunteers read and analyzed 3,276 group reports, a process that was as rewarding and illuminating as it was time-consuming. When we held the White House Forum on Health Reform in March of this year, launching our push from the White House in earnest, President Obama received a final report on the Discussions: “Americans Speak on Health Reform: Report on Health Care Community Discussions.”
And now, as we move into the final stretch of this road towards the historic passage of health insurance reform, we wanted to take a look at how the legislation we’ve seen emerge from Congress addresses many of the concerns, questions, suggestions, and solutions we heard about a year ago.
Lacking Insurance Security
From Tampa, Florida: “If a person loses their job, they are penalized twice: first, in losing their job and then by losing their health insurance.”
Health Insurance Reform Solution: Reform will ensure that Americans always have guaranteed choices of quality, affordable health insurance whether you lose your job, switch jobs, move, or get sick. With the new health insurance exchange, Americans can easily compare insurance plans, prices, and performance to decide which quality affordable insurance option is the right one.
Problems with Insurance Companies
From Portland, Oregon: “We also felt strongly that the health care system in its current state is clearly NOT FOR US. It is not designed to benefit or help us. Who is it for? Who does it benefit? We suspect that the answer is big corporations, because none of us know any individuals who feel that the health care system really meets their needs. It’s bureaucratic, disempowering, overwhelming, confusing, and frustrating in more ways than we can list.”
Health Insurance Reform Solution: Reform will end insurer abuses, lower premiums, and hold insurance companies accountable. Insurance market reforms will prohibit abuses such as denying coverage for pre-existing conditions; charging exorbitant premiums based on gender, age, or health status; dropping coverage when people are sick; and imposing annual or lifetime limits on benefits. Insurers will be held accountable for excessive overhead costs fueled by unreasonable executive compensation and profits. And consumer rights will be enhanced by requiring all insurers to provide effective appeals procedures including outside, independent review of appeals.
Denied Coverage because of a Pre-Existing Condition
From Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin: “My mother is epileptic; she has been all of her life. This is not a choice she made, this is a condition...but because of her condition she is denied coverage. It’s not that she is just not covered for her epilepsy issues, she is denied for all her health concerns, prevention included.”
Health Insurance Reform Solution: Insurance companies will no longer be able to deny or water down coverage because of a pre-existing condition. Affordable insurance coverage options will also be made immediately available through a high-risk pool for Americans who are uninsured and have a pre-existing condition. In the Senate bill, insurers will be prohibited from denying coverage to kids with pre-existing conditions six months after enactment.
Lacking Access to Health Care
From Kingston, Rhode Island: “The central health care issue of our time is access to affordable, high quality primary care.”
Health Insurance Reform Solution:Reform will give insurance coverage to over 30 million previously uninsured Americans and will provide refundable tax credits to make sure Americans can afford quality coverage. For those receiving this premium assistance, the Congressional Budget Office estimates that average premiums under reform will be significantly less than what they would have paid without reform.
<snip>
So that’s a sampling of how what we heard at the beginning of this road compares to what we’re seeing now at the end. And of course, America actually started down this road decades ago, and President Obama is simply the latest to get on the path after so many Presidents before him were pushed off. But more than anything, what we heard from the American people through the Health Care Community Discussions and throughout this past year is a reminder of how much this all means in the lives of millions of people, and how the problems they face aren’t just talking points, sound bites, or political arguments. It’s good to be reminded of that again.
(MUCH MUCH more here...)
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2009/12/28/where-road-health-reform-began
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