President Obama has made critical missteps in following through on one of his biggest campaign promises: Health Care reform. For those of us that supported him (or in my case actually worked on his campaign), this is a huge disappointment.
While on the campaign trail, then Senator Obama pledged to essentially fight a two front war on the status of health care in the United States: 1.) Create new restrictions on Health Insurance companies, namely ending their ability to deny a patient treatment on the basis of a pre-existing condition; while at the same time 2.) Create a "Public Option", or government run health insurance plan, that citizens could buy into if they so choose. Senator Obama also came out strongly in opposition to mandated coverage (something that separated him from his then biggest contenders, Jon Edwards and Hillary Clinton) as well as expressed a need for increased transparency over the crucial process.
So 200 days into the new administration, where are we?
We have, by my count, at least five separate plans up for consideration by members of Congress in both houses. The one garnering the most attention, and the bill with the most chance of passing, is the American's Affordable Health Choices Act (or HR 3200). The bill is 1,000 plus pages long, which many members of Congress have conceded they have not read in full. The bill contains a mandate on individuals to obtain coverage and a mandate on employers to supply coverage. These are both provision that then Senator Obama said he did not support, as well as what some scholars say could be an unconstitutional use of Congressional authority.
Leaving aside Obama's now apparent support for something he campaigned so rigorously against, his leadership on reform in general has been, simply put, ineffective. He has done a poor job at explaining exactly what he expects to see in pending legislation and has instead allowed Chris Dodd and Nancy Pelosi to run the show. They have been equally as disappointing, as they try to shut out dissent rather than embrace it as a fundamental tenant of democracy.
President Obama also backed out on a pledge to televise discussions on Health Care between himself and Health Insurance providers on CSPAN, calling into question some of his campaign promises on transparency. This was mainly due to the rush to pass legislation prior to the August recess, a purely political decision that added to fears that something was being hidden by the White House.
President Obama should have:
1.) Waited until Congress reconvened in September-since it is obvious the rushed attempt at legislation scared people off.
2.) Told the American people exactly what he expected he see from a Health Care Reform package. Then, partnered with members of each house that would put forth a bill meeting the President's expectations.
3.) Allow debate to proceed, with answers at the ready for dissenters.
Instead, we got a series of bills that lack uniformity, which no one can seem to explain, and which contain provisions the President previously said he would not support. Now, we are hearing the public option (the whole point of Health Reform in the first place) seems likely to be taken out of current proposals.
This lack of consistency has also allowed a series of misinformation to enter the public debate, on both Health Reform in general and the current legislation in specific. Discussion on mythical "death panels" has taken the place of questions on how to effectively close the "doughnut hole" provision in Medicare prescription drug coverage. Lies about money being set aside to cover abortion has replaced conversation over why exactly we are ranked lower than virtually every other western Democracy in terms of health coverage. Serious debate has been replaced with nonsense.
While those spewing this propaganda should be held accountable for their mistruths, the President and members of Congress should also be called to task for their inability to convey what exactly they are proposing. We still don't know if the President will sign a bill without a public option and we don't know what deals are being made with Pharmaceutical giants to change Medicare prescription drug coverage.
For those of us who voted for reform in November, I can only hope that the President uses his office in the next several months to achieve the system he outlined on the campaign trail.
http://www.fed-soc.org/doclib/20090710_Individual_Ma ndates.pdf
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/promises/pro mise/517/health-care-reform-public-sessions-C-SPAN/
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/politics_nation/200 9/07/will_obama_sign_a_bill_with_no.html
http://www.who.int/en/