As America Doomed has written many times, the Health Insurance Reform was only a partial attempt at reform. It was mostly an attempt to solve the most horrible policies of a for-profit health insurance industry which lost its mind. Seriously — Canceling people after they get sick? Not covering people who were ever sick? Babies are born with pre-existing conditions — wouldn’t that apply to everybody?
Yet, instead of really fixing health care, the current bill is only a big bandage on it — but the wound is still puffy and lots of puss is oozing out. There was not enough in the bill to actually control costs. There was nothing to control the salaries of doctors, the prices of prescription drugs, and the overall premiums. Instead, money is allocated to let people pay for outrageous premiums. Meanwhile, premiums will be going up to maintain the profits of an addicted out of control industry.
The basic problem with the bill is that people even have apply for it and pay premiums. Everybody should automatically be covered once they have a social security number. If you want a medical insurance card, use that. Also, there should be no premiums, no fees for not having insurance, and any money needed should come from taxes. Make no mistake, under the present bill premiums are going to rise, and a lot. Today, just as an example, a report indicated premiums for young people will rise quickly. Of course, making it impossible to young people to support themselves is a common theme: unpaid internships, low salaries, student loans, and crushing health care costs. Destroy the next generation will destroy America.
Democrats still have a great chance for seizing victory considerably farther by passing additional bills to make this first attempt stronger. Anybody who does not have health insurance should automatically be covered by Medicare. Medicare and MediCal should just be combined. This will become the single payer system and as people leave the greedy for-profit system, they will be covered automatically.
During the years from Reagan to W, deficits didn’t much matter to Republicans. Reagan nearly tripled the national debt in his term with his tax cuts that put the country on the road to destruction. Cheney declared “deficits didn’t matter” and he fancies himself as a fiscal conservative. The national debt continued to increase with one President after another — always more under Republicans than under Democrats. Now that the country is broke — yes, it is broke right now — Republicans want to talk about deficits. Hello! It is already too late — American has already spent the money for the next generation — it is already gone. Eventually, the debt will grow so fast that the country will simply define it away, issue a new currency, and just start over. About the only things that will survive are real assets: real estate, precious metals, things with intrinsic value, etc.
Republicans will try to convince ordinary Americans that it the country just stopped spending less than it brings it, everything would be ok. This is a gigantic lie. That would have worked long ago but not anymore — the national debt is too crushing. If Republicans implement such policies, America will literally be crushed under the weight — there will be people dead in the street. Lawlessness will break out in an unprecedented way. All the while, Republicans will be blaming Democrats when everybody should blame Reagan who decided that the rich were the only people that mattered.
America is Doomed.
