Debate on Health Care (Part 1): Should NOT be Repealed
Aug3
By Mitch Dworkin
The Feehery Theory is an open forum where if you want to put out your theory, you just have to submit it. The following theory comes from one of our readers, Mitch Dworkin. A follow up from John Feehery will be posted on Monday.
Health care should NOT be repealed even though it is imperfect and despite the messy process of how it was passed. I would love to see serious bipartisan negotiations to improve health care but I do not think it can happen as long as so many Republicans fear Rush Limbaugh and the many millions of Tea Party activists he influences who can primary them if they compromise.
My first point is that I have not seen a serious Republican health care alternative with guarantees to insure millions of people, including people with preexisting conditions, if health care is repealed:
- Ron Paul was asked about a dying uninsured person “are you saying that society should just let him die?” His main answer was turning to “Our neighbors, our friends, our churches” which is not a guarantee.
- Mitch McConnell was asked how 30 million people would be insured. His answer was “that is not the issue.”
- Sue Lowden was for a barter system with doctors saying grandparents “would bring a chicken to the doctor.”
- If there is a voucher system, then what happens if the voucher runs out and some people cannot afford expensive medicine or an operation to live? Will they just be left to suffer and/or die?
- I hear about cost, efficiency, and free markets which I think are valid issues but they are separate from actually insuring millions of people! The question is still there: What about poor people who cannot afford health care and need it to live?
- Mitch McConnell and others talk about putting people with preexisting conditions into high risk pools. However the cost of being put in a high risk poll in many states is very expensive. What about poor people who cannot afford it?
My second point is that Obama was intentionally sabotaged during the health care process. David Frum admitted this on Morning Joe, Jim DeMint said he wanted health care to be Obama’s “Waterloo” & to “break him,” and both Mitch McConnell & John Boehner actually reported to Rush Limbaugh during the health care debate!
With this being the case, what did Obama have to work with as far as the process was concerned when he met with Republicans about health care and Michele Bachmann said that more was accomplished at the White House Beer Summit? How I wish we could return to the days of Ronald Reagan and Tip O’Neill when serious bipartisan negotiations took place on big issues!
But big the question right now is what is the Republican health care plan, guarantees, and safety nets for all poor people if health care is repealed and if millions of people lose their coverage? What will be done for them if they need expensive medicine and/or an operation that they cannot afford? It is my truly sincere hope that poor people will not just be left to suffer and/or die because they have no guarantees, no safety nets, or that their vouchers ran out due to no fault of their own!
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Mitc
h Dworkin is an Independent political consultant who lives in Dallas, Texas. He has worked on many campaigns and he specializes in research, analysis, writing, and rapid response. What makes Mitch different from some other political analysts is that he always calls things right down the middle as he honestly sees them and he will always tell people the truth as he sees it and as how he can document it even if it is not popular. Mitch is also for bipartisanship and compromise while opposing extremism in both parties.
Mitch graduated from Rhode Island College in 1988 with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Political Science and from Bridgewater State College in 1992 with a Masters Degree in Education. You can follow him on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/mitch.dworkin, and reach him by e mail at mtdwrkn02@aol.com, or by phone at 469-556-7026. Credible documentation for all of the claims in this post is available on request. Mitch never makes any claims that he cannot tangibly prove. Please feel free to contact Mitch if you would like to receive any documentation.
The views expressed on TheFeeheryTheory.com are Mitch’s own and do not necessarily represent the views of TheFeeheryTheory.com.
I want to first thank John Feehery for agreeing to this informative debate on his blog. He is giving me a chance to express my views on what I think is a very important issue and to answer people’s questions about it. To me, this debate is entirely about issues and NOT party or person. I think that the country needs to be better informed about both sides of this issue and I also think that this issue needs to be seriously discussed in Congress in a serious bipartisan manner with everything on the table. Compromise is NOT a dirty word in my opinion, it is the way how to get big things done for the country!
Thanks, Mitch for speaking to the subject of healthcare. Yes, I also think Barack Obama was sabotaged to the point whereby the plan ended up not being exactly the best. However, at least significant legislation got our there – a step in the right direction.
My professional opinion ( I am a Health Information Administrator), is that what needs to primarily change is OUR/THE PEOPLE’S relationship with healthcare. Eighty percent of high end, expensive healthcare is due to long term abuse of the body. Ask any physician that regularly practices at a hospital.
Our tax dollars should be spent on 100% of the citizens getting full coverage for health, preventive care. NOT for sick care. If you want high end sick care, get it through your employer as a benefit or have a tax free system to pay for it personally from the exchange. Personal accountability needs to happen.
Our healthcare tax dollars need to be shifted to the family practitioners, medicines, technology, herbologists, therapists, dentists, chiropracters, nurse practioners, masseurs, that all help us be as healthy as we can be, help us really feel better and prevent us from taking in the toxic, negatively detrimental things such as too much alcohol, nicotine chemicals, excessive food, too many illegal and precribed drugs…all for the purpose of self medicating ourselves.
Unfortunately, to date, it is cheaper to medicate ourselves and feel better by going to the corner store instead of a healthcare practitioner.
Let’s think about this….
Hi Jill:
Thanks for your comment and I agree with your point “Our tax dollars should be spent on 100% of the citizens getting full coverage for health, preventive care. NOT for sick care.” The problem in my opinion is that your good ideal would be very hard to monitor, enforce, and implement because of how subjective that it is (different people abuse their bodies to different degrees and they can lie about it). If it is hard enough for people to agree on the health care issue right now; then monitoring, enforcement, and implementation of your ideal on such a subjective matter in my opinion would be next to impossible for Congress to agree on even though I think you have a valid point.
I also agree with you about “taking in the toxic, negatively detrimental things such as too much alcohol, nicotine chemicals, excessive food, too many illegal and prescribed drugs…all for the purpose of self medicating ourselves” but that in my opinion is like “the war on drugs.” It is a war I really wish that we could win but I think reality shows that it cannot be won. People go to rehab all of the time, few succeed, and some who initially fail go back while others do not. I wish that I had an easy answer to your good point but I just do not believe that a realistic answer exists.
My opinion is that we have to do the best we realistically can with what we have which will not be perfect but will provide a safety net to prevent sick people from unnecessarily dying just because they do not have insurance. I think allowing sick people to die like that when their lives can be saved is NOT “compassionate,” “conservative,” or “Christian;” I think it is immoral and inhumane!
If the uninsured sick person is able to work after their life is saved; then wage garnishment, community service, and other options can be on the table once they are better so there is not just a free ride and there is plenty of room to seriously compromise with the other side in my opinion. But what is completely off of the table to me is to just let an uninsured person die when their life could have been saved. How anyone can even seriously think of allowing that to happen and claim to be moral or to follow the Bible is just beyond me!
I further agree that we should “think about this” and I really hope that more people do!
I hope that this helps and I gladly welcome any feedback.
Mitch Dworkin
Mitch – yes, thank you for your response. All good points, as well.
My thoughts are that the shift of healthcare tax dollars from sick care to health care is something that will need to come over time….maybe 10-15 years from now. The current healthcare system and practioners will need to change. And it can be one of the changes, we the people, can do to set things right, to give a little.
The family leaders, the current healthcare community, the congressional leaders, and the President will all have to change and help make this happen.
And yes, we can not abandon the poor. The extreme poor, and truly disabled, throughout the age spectrum should still receive tax dollars for catastrophic care.
Since my ideas, to me, requires a relationship with healthcare change, a behavior change, conversation and clarity on how visits and relationships with healthcare practitioners, which will be “free” are far better than getting their medicine from the corner store. will have to be spoken consistently, many times, by all the leaders mentioned above. Because EVERYONE can get most of the healthcare needs taken care of via their tax dollars, it should, overtime, bring about insurmountable benefit and a happier society.
When I refer to the health/preventative care I am speaking of 2-3 doctor visits per year, the medicines and herbal medicines related to these visits, 1-2 dentist visits per year, 1-2 teeth cleanings per year, 1-2 cavity repairs per year, x amt of chiropractic care, x amt of massages per year, x amt of therapy sessions per year, free hearing aids, glasses, screening mammograms and xrays, certain diagnostic endoscopies and minor surgeries.
Again, the highend dollar care is 80% related to people who don’t care for themselves the best way they know…without going to a physician or have regular contact with a healthcare helping person.
At some point, it has to be well known that personal and family responsibility, not taking the cost of healthcare for granted, is a responsibility we finally need to take seriously. We can not continue to abuse ourselves when other types of help are readily available. Americans have to put their best foot forward and collectively place their tax dollars in the most reasonable, well thought spots.
Again, the extreme poor, across the age spectrum, will get tax dollar sponsored insurance…however, the rest of us can get catastrophic care other ways…through the exchanges, via employers, or tax free accts., etc. We just need to decide our mindsets need a change, our relationship with care needs to change.
If people regularly have a relationship with healthcare, from birth till death….they won’t need much use for the catastrophic care. Truly.
Next thing to talk about….truly listening and respecting our family members healthcare wishes, when organs are heading towards a final failing stage or death is nearing and comfort care.
Hi Jill:
Thanks for your replies and again, I agree with you! I do not know if you saw my reply to John in the comments section in part 2 of this debate but I made all of your points about how “The family leaders, the current healthcare community, the congressional leaders, and the President will all have to change and help make this happen:”
http://www.thefeeherytheory.com/2012/08/06/debate-on-health-care-part-2-this-monstrosity-of-a-law-should-be-repealed-quickly/
Debate on Health Care (Part 2):
This Monstrosity of a Law Should be Repealed Quickly
Aug
6
By John Feehery
I made the case why I do not think that this cannot realistically happen until sitting members and leaders of Congress in BOTH parties can stand up to the fringes in their parties when I said “That means Republicans cannot fear Rush (Limbaugh), cannot worry about being primaried if they compromise, and that Democrats have to compromise as well even if it means putting their reelection at risk.” Also, John in part 2 of the debate did not answer my key points that I made in part 1 of the debate about preexisting conditions, expensive high risk health care pools, and if a dying uninsured person should just be left to die when their life could be saved.
I also agree with your ideal that “We just need to decide our mindsets need a change, our relationship with care needs to change” but reality in my opinion is that nobody can force consenting adults to do anything that is legal against their will.
I am the kind of person who wishes that hyper-partisanship would end, that your ideals would happen, and I have tried my best to help make them happen. But reality in my opinion is that nothing will seriously change for the better until mainstream leaders in Washington & MANY big names in BOTH parties get up off of their stinking butts, seriously unite together against the hyper-partisan fringes in their activist bases (there are more of us than there are of them, they are just louder & more active than we are), tell them all to go jump in a lake & don’t come back until you can behave like an adult, and everyone in both parties who are serious come to the table in order to do some real compromising so our government can truly function again like how it did under Ronald Reagan and Tip O’Neill back in the 1980s! I think that well meaning groups like Unity08, No Labels, and Americans Elect had your right ideas but they did not have a fraction of the power that is needed to accomplish their ideal goals. In my opinion, they were about as effective as shooting water pistols trying to put out the Towering Inferno (no tangible difference and not major players noticed by the country or the national media).
I really hate to tell you such bad news but I am an Independent moderate political consultant who always tries to call things right down the middle and who always tells people the truth as I really see it & as how I can credibly document it even if it is not popular. I would NEVER under any circumstances lie to anyone to give them false hope or to make them feel good for the moment when I know that they will be very seriously disappointed and probably feel even worse sometime later on. That may possibly apply to your saying how it would be “cheaper to medicate ourselves and feel better by going to the corner store instead of a healthcare practitioner.”
I gladly welcome any comments & feedback and the links to both parts of this debate are also posted on my Facebook page!
Mitch Dworkin