Hillary Clinton’s Health Care Plan: The Best Choice 

Hillary Promotes Legitimate Universal Health Care

I have never had to fear being denied medical coverage – not because I was healthy or white or held proof of my citizenship, but because universal health care has long been the norm where I live. Regardless of age, gender, race, financial ability, physical disability, level of health, etc. – everyone who is in need of medical attention will receive access to health care.

Perhaps because I knew this, I also knew that I would be required to start paying premiums when I was no longer attending full-time studies in University. I paid the same amount as anyone else within the same annual income range, which came to a premium of about $70 every three months. Imagine my horror when my American boyfriend at the time told me how much a “good” health insurance plan cost per month in the States(!).

Universal Health Care Means Universal COVERAGE, Not “Universal Access to Affordable Coverage”

The objection to mandated health insurance may be understandable when it has not been the norm. Why should someone pay into health insurance if he or she has never needed it before?

On the opposite side of that coin… who pays for the person who refuses to obtain affordable health care when he or she is seriously injured, disabled, critically ill, in need of lengthy hospital stays or expensive treatments, etc.? The government? Their family? Their children?

Paying for health insurance doesn’t just address the immediate needs of an individual, it addresses potential future needs. Everyone may potentially benefit from universal health care, whether they believe they “need” it or not.

But who pays for those uninsured people and ensures quality care for them when they are in need? Who bears that financial burden? If they have never paid into a health insurance plan in their life, whose responsibility is it to provide them with the care they need?

Hillary’s promotion of shared responsibilities in fixing the state of health care in the U.S. distributes the responsibilities of fixing the problem to everyone – individuals, government, employers, insurance and drug companies, etc.

Mandating insurance coverage that is affordable and accessible is a minor responsibility on the part of an individual. The individual responsibility to obtain coverage is one piece of the “shared responsibilities” pie.

That I started paying health care premiums as a young adult even though I was healthy and didn’t “need” it at the time ensured fairness within the universal health coverage system – I was accepting responsibility not just for my current health, but for my potential future health. Paying premiums into universal health care meant that I would not be denied when I was in need, that my family would not suffer from the additional stress of financial burden in the event of an illness, and that the cost for my treatment wasn’t a burden to society.  

Mandating insurance coverage ensures that family, government, spouses, etc. are not unfairly burdened financially at the unexpected injury, illness, long-term hospital stay, etc. of a loved one.

*By mandating coverage, the choice is taken away from individuals who assume that they “don’t need” insurance.. until they really need it!*

More Common Sense From Hillary’s Plan: 

• Plans to ensure affordability include refundable tax credits for working families on the basis of limiting premium payments to a percentage of annual income, tax credits for small businesses, net tax credits.
•  Affordability is defined
•  Information is detailed and consistent
• The plan is comprehensive, well researched, and vastly more progressive than Obama’s   

In Contrast:

“Universal Health Care” is an Oxymoron Under Obama’s Plan

 “We now face an opportunity — and an obligation — to turn the page on the failed politics of yesterday’s health care debates… My plan begins by covering every American. If you already have health insurance, the only thing that will change for you under this plan is the amount of money you will spend on premiums. That will be less. If you are one of the 45 million Americans who don’t have health insurance, you will have it after this plan becomes law. No one will be turned away because of a preexisting condition or illness.”

— Barack Obama, Speech in Iowa City, IA, May 29, 2007 (retrieved 2008-02-17 from: http://www.barackobama.com/issues/healthcare/)

*****

Quality, Affordable and Portable Coverage for All

Obama’s Plan to Cover Uninsured Americans: Obama will make available a new national health plan to all Americans, including the self-employed and small businesses, to buy affordable health coverage that is similar to the plan available to members of Congress (retrieved 2008-02-17 from: http://www.barackobama.com/issues/healthcare/)

• Barack Obama’s language is misleading; his plan only ensures that affordable health insurance is available to everyone
• There is no proposed requirement to ensure that individuals obtain insurance, even when it is guaranteed to be affordable and accessible (This does not address responsibility of those uninsured individuals when they do require health care – who pays then?)
  
• He will require mandatory coverage only for children (All men are created equal, except when they are single mothers… Mandating mandatory coverage for children – but not for all – will place a discriminatory and unfair financial burden on single parents, the vast majority of which are women!)
• He states that some young adults may be able to receive coverage under their parents’ plans up to the age of 25 (Why do young adults need special assistance in obtaining “affordable health care for all”? If it has to do with limited income due to full-time studies, then propose coverage under parents’ plans while the young adult attends full-time classes; there should be no reason why an employed young adult should not be able to afford health care)
• Federal subsidies will only be available to those who do not qualify for Medicaid or SCHIP, based on household income levels (If someone cannot afford “affordable” health care, what hoops do they need to jump through to obtain a subsidy? Is the subsidy in the form of a refundable tax credit?).
• Implementing a plan that does not mandate health coverage for all is short-sighted, and will serve to perpetuate the problems that already exist; there is no explanation as to what will happen to those people who still cannot afford health care, who do not qualify for a federal subsidy or Medicaid, who require medical attention.

In Conclusion:

Obama’s plan perpetuates health care as a privilege. With misleading language and a vague framework, it doesn’t answer the hard questions about the specifics of affordability, real universal coverage, implementation, etc. Obama’s plan distances individuals, employers, drug companies, insurance providers, and himself (the government) from mutual responsibility and accountability.

To issue the edict that mandated coverage will be required for children only fails to recognize that he is replacing one form of discrimination with another. If only children are mandated for coverage, and the vast majority of single parents are women, how can Obama defend selective mandating? Obama’s plan just doesn’t answer why parents, single parents, and especially single mothers will be forced to spend income where their contemporaries continue to have choice. The logic of partial mandating is a non sequitur; like a house of cards, it falls down.

The quality and evidence of (hard-learned) experience in Hillary’s plan shows that she is intent not just on implementing genuine universal health coverage, but in moving forward towards a health care system that ensures accountability at all levels, and corrects fundamental core issues. She gets it – she gets that in most developed countries, universal health care is the norm, and that standing still on the issue – or providing band-aid solutions wrapped in convincing rhetoric – is unacceptable.