( - promoted by Fong)
Because of my interest in health care reform, I am frequently asked if the new reform bill does any good. This is usually issued as a "prove it" question. The overall sense of the bill, the highly quotable comments of high profile critics, the arduous struggle prior to the vote, have combined to make skepticism the attitude de jour. To be brief: yes, it does some good. Linda Bergthold has written a good Huffington Post on this issue including excellent advice on how to act to improve the obviously imperfect bill.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...
If you teach social policy, read this blog and keep it as a guide to effective activism in this area or for that matter, in many areas.
The White House site: http://www.whitehouse.gov/, has clear explanations of key points such as eliminating immediately discrimination against children with pre-existing conditions. Some of the noxious moves during the debates, e.g. the unfair favoritism for Nebraska, have been dropped and the White House site includes those changes as well. In six months, the ban against insurance companies dropping people when they fall ill, kicks in as well as the extension of coverage to people up to age 26 on their parents' plans. Having a daughter in the film business when she was in her early twenties, I found that she had hidden from me that her employment never included insurance. I bet other parents find this fact out in the worse way possible: when an illness or accident occurs. Today, many careers start out in arrangements that contractually are nearer to freelance than old-style jobs. In fact, many more permanent jobs have this drawback.
The ban on "caps" for coverage takes effect in 6 months after enactment. So there are benefits near to hand. But there are problems with the bill. The best thing to do is to figure out your own questions and check out the facts. The critics have out shouted those of us who believe reform was necessary. I, for one, do not believe the critics would have gone ahead and created a better bill if they had defeated this one. I do believe this was an important step. So ride your own horse and raise your voice to focus on the fixes you think are essential. An email, a letter to the editor, and other forms of expression are according the respect of many multiples, one equals a 100 with similar points of view, etc. |
