In his first weekly address, President Obama uttered his first political cave in as he went over a laundry list of money the government will throw out in support of maintaining the status quo. It isn't pretty, it isn't presidential and it certainly isn't change. As citizens waited to hear how his immense authority and moment of opportunity would be used to fulfill the pretty campaign promise that all Americans would have access to the same health care his family has as federal employees, we sighed to hear the transition from Obama the candidate to Obama the President as he stated his goal:
To lower health care cost, cut medical errors, and improve care, we’ll computerize the nation’s health record in five years
And so the hope of change takes his first significant dive as he promises to make our failing system paperless and to make that change in longer than his term in office and without any provision that all the long term savings will be passed onto citizens.
As he hits the ground, not running but sliding on his belly, we're left to ask how things could have gone so wrong in so short a time? Instead of stating that the savings for health insurers and medical providers will be passed onto citizens, he explains how reducing health costs will be done by further management of citizens. Instead of indicating that uninsured citizens will be eligible for health insurance like his family, we're told that in five years we'll have a new paperless bureaucracy.
So what happened President Obama? Was the allure of doing something painless just to say you did something too great to consider and roll up your sleeves and boldly face the greed of health insurers and providers that contributed to this mess?
So here's the promise of the candidate: Every family will have the chance to have health insurance that my family enjoys as federal employees.
And here's the promise of the President: We'll go paperless and we'll save lots of money and by the way it will take five years so please re elect me.
Okay, back to basics. Our concerns, Mr. President are access to affordable and quality health care when we're sick. Instead of formulating a real change, this week you proposed giving into the political game of "how many are insured" so that during your fourth year as our President you can stand and recite how many millions fewer go without health insurance without any regard to the quality of that insurance in terms of preventing bankruptcy or death when illness strikes. SCHIP of course goes through because politicians love babies...whether they're bestowing meaningless kisses and hugs or giving them some awful coverage just so that they can call it insurance.
As for health insurers: Congratulations to the promoters and profiteers represented by the AHIP lobby: More money in the form of "savings" you'll accrue by going paperless without any expectation that such savings will be passed onto consumers in the form of premium reduction, without any change in how many people you deny insurance because you might actually have to make good on your promise to cover the cost of illness, without any indication that you will have to be the next RESPONSIBLE legs of the financial world in terms of verification of the use of those health savings dollars for actual medical care as opposed to a way for the rich to hide a few more thousands a year and for the poor to save less money than they would need to pay their deductibles and co-pays in the event of illness.
As for health services providers: Your threats paid off as per your lobbying efforts through the AMA, you have a 1% increase in salary and you didn't even have to promise to take on any new number of pesky Medicare patients. You don't have to pass your savings onto consumers AND you now get to use your paperless bureaucracy to blame someone else for your mistakes. You also get 2% increases in addition to your 1% as you help our President transition from a paper to a paperless bureaucracy.
As for consumers: We're sunk. President Obama has told us to expect nothing that Candidate Obama promised. Instead he satisfied the stakeholders in the health care industry and hopes that you'll shut up because he did something...he committed to five years to transition from a paper bureaucracy to a paperless bureaucracy that will save money eventually but that money will never pass on to consumers.
Health Insurance: Keep it Simple Today and enjoy the success of the other stakeholders in the health services crisis who are getting their points across and learn that consumers will not be represented until we lobby for ourselves. Based on the President's leadership in talking savings we must now support the suspension of the premium benefits packages in part supported by un insured Americans for our civilian governmental workers as a means of helping them understand the realities of the health services crisis.
