Editorials, Opinion Pieces Discuss Issues Related to Health Care Reform
Several newspapers recently published two editorials and several opinion pieces that address issues related to health care reform. Summaries appear below.
Editorial
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Fort Worth Star-Telegram: U.S. residents who attend the health care house parties encouraged by the transition team of President-elect Barack Obama should avoid the "big issues, such as the value of universal health care or whether access to health care is a right or a privilege" and focus on "10 policy goals -- most of which have political support and recognize the incremental nature of political change," a Star-Telegram editorial states. According to the editorial, the list of policy goals includes reauthorization of SCHIP; increased "scholarship assistance and loan-forgiveness programs to train more care providers"; efforts to make "quality-of-care information more transparent"; reforms to the "Medicare and Medicaid physician reimbursement" systems; efforts to make "health insurance affordable for small businesses and their employees"; increased "incentives to change health behavior"; an expansion of electronic health records; and an increased "number of federally funded community health clinics" (Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 12/14).
- Washington Times: Obama "may not have been the choice of many conservative voters in last month's election, but he has an obligation to represent them," and on the issue of health care, "affordability and choice rule the day with conservatives," a Times editorial states. According to the editorial, "The key to health reform is choice," so Obama should let "the people who have health insurance keep it." The editorial states, "The overwhelming majority of Americans are covered, and for them the number one issue is affordability, with accessibility a close second," adding, "Let the marketplace answer both calls." In addition to "allowing Americans the option to choose health care, consideration must be given to addressing soaring health care costs and permitting Americans to keep their insurance when they change jobs," the Times writes. Obama and Daschle "must make these concerns part of the new administration's agenda to reform health care," the editorial states, concluding, "The government cannot possibly do for Americans what the marketplace can" (Washington Times, 12/15).
Opinion Pieces
- Renate Pore, Charleston Gazette: "While the problems facing the incoming president are daunting, a time of crisis may be the best opportunity to finally put in place a health care policy that provides affordable coverage for all Americans and a plan to change our health care system for the better," Pore, a health care policy analyst for the West Virginia Center for Budget and Policy, writes in a Gazette opinion piece. According to Pore, the nomination of former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) as the next HHS secretary "means we can expect action sooner rather than later." Pore writes that the "economic crisis may provide the best opportunity for reform that we have had in a long time," as the "worse the economy, the more the high cost of health care hurts us all." Pore concludes, "It's time to create a health care system for the 21st century that promotes health, coordinates care and protects all Americans from the devastating cost of illness. It's the change Obama promised and it's the change we expect" (Pore, Charleston Gazette, 12/14).
- Nick Turkal, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: "It is time ... to stop just talking about what's wrong with our health care system" and address the issues, Turkal, a physician and president and CEO of Aurora Health Care, writes in a Journal Sentinel opinion piece. "The health of our citizens, and the economic stability of our nation, depend on us implementing solutions," he writes, adding, "Our path should be clear by now: universal coverage and access to care; better management of chronic diseases; improved integration and coordination of care; responsible use of scarce resources." Turkal writes, "If the United States of America can find the resources to prop up the economy and lead the world in most every way, surely we can find a way to make excellent, affordable health care available to all of our citizens" (Turkal, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 12/13).
- Julia Steiny, Providence Journal: The U.S. health care system "takes wretched care of the nation's children," and a community health care approach could help address the issue, Steiny, a member of the Providence School Board and co-director of Information Works!, writes in a Journal opinion piece. According to Steiny, the approach, outlined by Michael Fine and James Peters in the book "The Nature of Health," appears "much like where we were going back in the 1960s," until opposition from the private medical community led to the "hideously expensive, ineffective so-called system we have" today. "The book explains rather clearly how even -- or perhaps especially -- in our current financial crisis, cities and states should begin organizing health centers for themselves," she writes, adding, "If not because it's the moral and effective thing to do, then because it would cut costs dramatically" (Steiny, Providence Journal, 12/14).
