President Barack Obama is on target when he compares health care reform to popular government social programs such as Social Security and Medicare. In a generation, we may wonder what the fuss was all about?
For now, backing the health reform plan is unpopular with many or most, say pollsters.
Lawmakers, such as U.S. Rep. Chris Carney, D-10, of Dimock, know that they will alienate many potential voters if they support the legislation.
The Republican Party, FOX News talking heads and other conservative-leaning pundits have been wildly stoking fears about the expanding role of government and the specter of out-of-control debt pinned to adding programs without adequately explaining cost controls.
Those concerns have undoubtedly given Carney pause, but the congressman, whose district includes all of the Central Susquehanna Valley, ought to vote yes on health care reform.
Beginning in 2014, most Americans would be required for the first time to purchase insurance or face penalties if they refused. Large businesses would face fines if they did not offer good-quality coverage to their workers. Millions of families with incomes up to $88,000 a year would receive government help to defray their costs.
A special deal giving extra Medicaid money to Nebraska was struck in exchange for more Medicaid money for all states, though other special deals decried by Obama stayed in the bill.
Here is what the reform package would do in the 10th Congressional District:
Improve health coverage for 406,000 people already with insurance;
Extend coverage to 26,500 people without insurance,
Guarantee that almost 8,000 people with pre-existing conditions can get health coverage.
Give tax credits and other assistance to 179,000 people and 13,300 small businesses to help them afford coverage.
Reduce the cost of uncompensated care for hospitals and other health care providers by $46 million a year.
Protect 800 families from bankruptcy associated with unaffordable health care costs.
This weekend’s health care reform vote is an historic opportunity for the government to improve the lives of millions of its citizens. We believe Carney has the courage to stand up and do what is right — reform our ailing health care system — and we urge him to do so. The legislation has its flaws, but it is the greatest reform of health care ever undertaken in this country.
