The Affordable Care Act answers a need. Health-care costs were rising at four times the rate of inflation while being the leading cause of personal bankruptcies. An unsustainable health-care system demanded reform; however, the system could not or would not reform itself, so the ACA was born.
The debate over reform spawned a campaign of dishonesty and paranoia in opposition to change that covered the nation like a plague. Critics began their campaign with a whopper, claiming “death squads” were being formed by the ACA to “pull the plug on Grandma.” Irrational cries of socialism, communism and other such foolishness have created fear among our citizens, especially senior citizens,and that is despicable political behavior.
On Sept. 4th, in the Clinton Presidential Library, the man dubbed by President Barack Obama as the “Secretary of Explaining Stuff”-former President Bill Clinton-came home to do what he does best: explain what the ACA is, what it is not, why it is necessary, the benefits it has delivered and a few issues that need to be addressed by Congress.
In addition to the lofty ideal of providing quality, affordable, accessible health care to all Americans, Clinton stated that we also have a mandate to do a better job of cost control for the economic well-being of the country. He said that the U.S. is spending 17.9 percent of its gross domestic product on health care while the next-highest developed nation-The Netherlands-spends only 12 percent of its GDP (The average is 9.5 percent.). That disparity represents $1 trillion.
Even more alarming is the fact that, in ranking our health-care system alongside those nations spending far less, we find the U.S. is not even in the top 10; we are in 25th place! You would think we could do better by spending a trillion dollars more per year than nations competing with us in world commerce. A trillion dollars put to use rebuilding our infrastructure would create millions of jobs inthe private sector.
Clinton listed several positives that the ACA has already accomplished. He also said that something as massive and complex as our health-care system simply can’t be reformed instantly, nor could every issue be resolved without additional scrutiny and amendments.
Possibly the most important nugget in his explanation was his declaration that any problem in the ACA can be dealt with and corrected by the U.S. Congress. Mr. Clinton disallowed claims that the ACA was going to cost the nation jobs due to companies cutting back working hours. The facts show that 87 percent of new jobs since the law was passed have been full-time jobs.
The infamous “doughnut hole” that has proven very costly to seniors and others who rely on prescription drugs is being closed by the ACA, resulting in lower prices.
The ACA requires that insurance plans allow young people to be covered until age 26 by their parents’ plan, which means students can finish their education and enter the work force before being saddled with health-care costs that many can’t afford while repaying student loans.
Due to the ACA, insurance providers are now required to apply a certain percentage of their income to health care, and if they don’t, policyholders get a refund, and those dollars aren’t chicken feed.
The ACA requires that citizens with pre-existing conditions are now insurable. Many families will breathe a sigh of relief because of this user-friendly approach. Removal of the cap on coverage that can leave very sick patients without health care is a godsend to many.
The ACA will enable many rural hospitals to continue operations because the volume of noncompensated care will be greatly reduced if not eliminated. Emergency rooms won’t have to be the primary-care provider any longer.
A valuable trait in the ACA is the cost-free preventive-measures provision. Mammograms for ladies, prostate cancer screening for men and other preventive measures will save lives and prevent very expensive treatments as illnesses are detected earlier.
It makes common sense! The repeal crowd should feel shame for advocating the elimination of such a giant step toward creating a healthier society. Many feel that our current health-care system too often places more emphasis on treating illnesses than it does in preventing them. The ACA will reverse this trend. Much pain and suffering will be avoided because of this feature in the law.
Political campaigns based on repealing the law have cluttered the minds of voters. If we can only clear the clutter and focus on what these positive steps will mean, citizens will demand that legislators work together to correct any shortcomings that are revealed.
It’s time to end the assault and inject some truth serum into the discussion.
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Harvey Joe Sanner is a longtime farm and rural advocate from Des Arc.
Editorial, Pages 11 on 09/23/2013