Why It Makes ECONOMIC Sense....

.....to Pass the Healthcare Reform Bill Now

The Major Objections to the Bill are both economic and political:

(1) Economics: Cost, especially in relation to the National Debt
(2) Politics: Government's Role in Personal Matters

What Are the Deficit-Creating Costs of the Current Healthcare System?
We taxpayers pay for all of the healthcare now. We just do it in a way that we can’t afford.

The Money That the Nation Pays for Healthcare includes insurance payments, government payments, and individual payments. The source of every one of these payments is: the individual. Whether we pay for healthcare in insurance premiums—or in taxes—or in checks to the doctor—we pay for it all.

At the Moment, the Inefficiencies Are Bankrupting the System:

Inefficiencies in the System:
Out of all the dollars the American people pay, too-few go straight to healthcare.

Many Bills Are Paid by Government:
Many dollars pay for those who do not pay for themselves: seniors, the military, the poor. This money goes through government hands, which takes something like 3% in administrative costs.

Many Bills Are Paid by Insurance Companies:
Many dollars go to insurance companies, who pay healthcare, but also take something like 20% out in administrative costs—and in profits.

But All of the Bills Are Paid by All of Us:
The total, national healthcare bill—administrative costs, profits, and actual healthcare—is paid for by the total of us. It’s not really us or government. Because we, the people, are the government.

All of it Is “Our” Money

Every Penny Paid for Healthcare, by Americans, in America, is our money. Any idea that the flow of money between taxpayers and government changes the combined national “net worth” makes no sense. This issue is not an economic one. But it is a political issue.

Political Issues:
For some people, the politics of the situation argue against government involvement in healthcare delivery. Some also argue in terms of individual responsibility versus social responsibility. That's a discussion that we, as a people, need to have.

But Now Is Not the Time for That Discussion. Now, while America is in the greatest financial challenge of the last 80 years, is not the time. Too many Americans have lost their insurance—just because they’ve lost their jobs. And that’s not a lack of individual responsibility. And too many Americans can’t afford to pay for their own insurance—just because of skyrocketing premiums, insurmountable deductibles, low lifetime maximums, preexisting conditions, etc.

The Economics of Reform Are Comparatively Sound:
The economics of the situation—that we all are paying all of the bills—gives all of us the incentive to get those costs under control—as quickly as possible—so that more of our national wealth can go into the capitalist engine of wealth-creation—and balancing the budget.

Health-insurance Reform Makes Economic Sense:
We, the American people, cannot afford to keep wasting our healthcare dollars by diverting so much through insurance companies. The evidence that is does not work for America now is clear. The economic argument is sound.

America Cannot Afford to Wait:
We Must Pass Healthcare Reform for America
Now!

The Republican Medicare Myth

For Pretty Much the Whole Year since the world economy fell apart under the stewardship of former President George W. Bush, the Hot Air Force of Conservative American media combined with congressional and gubernatorial Republicans have taken what pleasure they can find in shooting slings and arrows at current President Barack Obama and the Democrats in Congress.

It's Like Shooting Donkeys in a Barrel, on the one hand.

But on the Other Hand, any self-respecting American elephant with a sincere interest in advancing the American Way of Life would find embarrassment in the economic and political state that those years of Republican Rule skidded America into. Such persons would have worked a bit harder to help put things back in order, and would have shown less relish in trying to foist their own failures onto their political opposition.

Listening to the Likes of the Republican Leadership such as House Minority Leader John Boehner and House Minority Whip Eric Cantor stand up and take partisan potshots at Democrats has been a transparent effort to make fun of Democrats for the mess that the Republicans made and left for the rest of the free world.

The Republicans Have Forgotten that the purpose of politics is not to score points, but to run the country. And sometimes that means putting ideology aside.

Since the Early Days of Medicare back in 1965, the Republicans have led the charges against this program essential for helping to keep senior citizens out of financial ruin in their twilight years.

“Socialized Medicine!” has been the Republican verdict all these years. “It's too expensive!” they have yelled. Even as this “socialist” program has grown to become one of the Nation's most-popular government programs ever.

In a Recent Posting on Our Companion Blog, Ideology Aside, Gozo Usa analyzes how the apparent failures of Medicare on a fiscally responsible basis result from Republican obstructionism, and not from any flaw inherent in the system. Writes Usa,

[S]ince 1965, for almost 45 years, the Republicans have worked to keep it so that the most-expensive health care that can be paid for, is paid for out of your pocket and mine.....The Republicans have made sure that Medicare is almost-impossible for America to afford.....[They] have worked for almost 45 years to kill Medicare. It’s time to put this destructive Republican ideology aside.

The Problem with Being Reactionary is that you can only do your best work when the other side sticks its neck out and tries new things. Such as Social Security and civil rights and voting rights and Medicare.....AKA “socialized medicine.”

It's Time to Put “Ideology Aside” and include America's low-risk, low-cost population in the high-risk, high-cost health-insurance pool.

In the Long Run, America Eventually Will Join the rest of the developed world, along with the not-so-developed world, and provide universal health care that the whole of the Nation can afford.

In the Mean Time, America Needs a “Public Option.” We don't need to reinvent the wheel of universal healthcare coverage, when so many different plans around the world show us what works and what doesn't. We can pick and choose, learning from the rest of the world's mistakes. We will come up with the world's best universal coverage, combining capitalism's best practices to make healthcare affordable, once and for all. But in the mean time, America needs that “public option.”

Please Read the Entire Post at Ideology Aside:

Democrats Want Health Care That’s Affordable; Republicans Want Medicare to Die

And Then Let Your Elected Officials Know, one way or the other, what you think.