Health Care

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/18/opinion/18krugman.html?emc=eta1

Once again, we find ourselves in good company with Paul Krugman whose post today, entitled "Pass the Bill", is completely in line with our thoughts!

As we have said in other prior posts, the current Senate bill would do two things: first, it would prohibit discrimination by insurance companies on the basis of medical condition or history (no denial of health insurance based on a pre-existing condition), and second, your insurance can't get canceled because you got sick, or you got too sick. Krugman includes the second as part of the first but we feel it deserves an appropriate spotlight. Krugman designates the second most important thing (and our "third") as the bill would provide substantial financial aid to those who don't get insurance through their employers, as well as tax breaks for small employers who do provide insurance.

We don't care what else is in the bill because, pragmatically, we know that some senators need some things in order to make it a "win" for them.

All of this would be paid for in large part by the first serious effort to rein in rising health care costs.

The result would be, as Krugman says, "... a huge increase in the availability and affordability of health insurance, WITH MORE THAN 30 MILLION Americans gaining coverage, and premiums for lower-income and lower-middle-income Americans falling dramatically."

Because he has studied this issue, Krugman assures that the history of social insurance programs is that the coverage gets better and more comprehensive as the years go by. While we hoped for that, it is nice to see someone of Krugman's stature reassures us.

While nobody will be completely happy with what's on the table, isn't that how politics (or labor negotiations) works? We like Krugman's quote, "... rejecting an imperfect deal in the hope of eventually getting something better is a recipe for getting nothing at all."

So, let's pass the bill and take note of those senators who sought to block it. Those senators should be easy to run against!