 "Photo: Eduardo Herrera | Valley Star")
Between the waffling of democrats and unabashed, willful misrepresentations by republicans, the Affordable Healthcare for America Act has become a monstrosity, which doesn't include a true public option. The healthcare bill that recently passed in the House represents another step in the wrong direction for effective healthcare reform and is not in the best interests of Americans.
This summer, President Obama's administration was adamant about creating a public option, assumingly similar to the Healthy San Francisco plan. However, after being called Nazi communists that wanted to set up "death panels" by republicans and their mouthpieces, the democrats gave in and eliminated the plan from the bill.
Now, what's left is a nearly 2,000-page bill that gets a couple of things right, like a small tax on the wealthiest of Americans to help pay the bill, according to the Washington Post. It would also give subsidies to people who can't afford their insurance.
Also, the Chicago Tribune claims the bill will set up "insurance exchanges" where Americans who qualify can go to find health insurance they would otherwise be ineligible for. Time magazine reports that the exchanges could help leverage lower costs from the insurance companies with the promise of more customers, also known as patients.
The bottom line is that people will still be subjected to the whims of the insurance companies and this bill will only feed more money into an already broken system that values profit over people's health.
The reason this bill has become so convoluted is democrats, who have a large majority in both the House and Senate, don't have the gall to stand up for what they say they believe in. They've allowed republicans to use manipulative, hyperbolic rhetoric to destroy their ethos with the very people this bill is supposed to help.
Instead of trying to reinvent the wheel with their legislation, the geniuses on Capitol Hill should model a bill after a plan that has been proven to be successful, like the one instituted by Mayor Gavin Newsom of San Francisco.
The Healthy San Francisco plan was created in 2006 by a coalition created by the mayor that consisted of representatives from insurance, business, labor, and community groups. The plan calls for all residents in San Francisco, regardless of status, to be eligible for benefits on a sliding payment scale; it focuses on preventative medicine while educating people on healthy lifestyles, and still provides necessary treatment. It is a true public option and has been successful since its inception.
The most impressive fact, though, is that the plan was created with no additional taxes, according to Mayor Newsom at a recent town hall meeting in Woodland Hills.
Congress should take heed. However, they probably can't see the other side of their office, much less the west coast, over the mountain that is their current bill. Until they can, we'll have to make due with whatever passes through their dyspeptic bickering.
Three things are certain to happen with this bill. Republicans will try and scare people to get their way; democrats will pander, quite frankly, to everyone; and the needs of the people will take a back seat on this road to "reform."
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