By Eric Coleman
We’ve all seen the videos over and over again on television this month: Angry Americans yelling at their Congressman or Senator during town hall meetings about a sinister plot for the federal government to take over the health care system and decide if our beloved grandma lives or dies.
I think that as a nation we need to crank up the air conditioner, pour ourselves a tall glass of refreshing lemonade and cool down the rhetoric. To his credit, President Obama has been trying to do just that.
Health care affects each of us and the people we love most. So it’s understandable that many Americans are seriously concerned or even scared about what’s going on in Washington, D.C. in terms of health reform.
One should remember that we already have a government-sponsored insurance program that is administered by the United States government, to provide health insurance coverage to people who are aged 65 and over, or who meet other special criteria and that operates as a single-payer health care system. This program is funded by taxes or premiums paid by participants. This already exists and was adopted in 1965 as our Medicare program.
I believe that the prudent course is to get the facts from our federal representatives:
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what are the objectives of health reform?
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what are the specific provisions in the proposed health reform bill?
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what would these provisions mean to our families,our local health systems and Oakland County government?
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How much will it cost and how will we pay for it?
Engaging various points of view in healthy dialogue should always be encouraged. Clearly, drowning out debate is getting us nowhere. But there’s something else that will get us nowhere too: A proposed Oakland County resolution to cancel the county’s membership in the National Association of Counties (NACo) as a way to protest health reform.
NACo has not endorsed any particular bill under consideration by Congress. As a past president of NACo, I can say that the ill-advised effort to kick NACo to the curb in order to send a message to Washington is short-sighted and harmful to Oakland County residents.
A great benefit of being a member of NACo is the Prescription Drug Discount Card Program. Since 2006, Oakland County residents have saved a whopping $2. 4 million off their medicine costs. In April of this year, Oakland County residents saved $83,000. In May, we saved $90,000. In June we saved $93,000. See a trend? Pull the plug on NACo and we can kiss good-bye almost a $100,000 a month in real saving for our residents who purchase prescription drugs.
In addition to being an active advocate for counties with the powers-that-be in Congress and the Administration, NACo provides many other benefits for us here. In this era of cost-cutting and having to do more with less; NACo provides an avenue to exchange information on best-practices and model programs. NACo provides valuable technical support, research and a clearing house for federal grants.
County officials are elected to protect the health and welfare of their constituents. County governments are integral to America’s current health system and must be crucial partners in achieving successful reform. County governments often serve as the payer of last resort for the medically indigent. County jails must offer their inmates health care as required by the U.S. Supreme Court. Many counties operate nursing homes and provide services for seniors. County behavioral health authorities help people with serious mental health, developmental disability and substance abuse problems who would have nowhere else to turn. And as an employer, Oakland County government provides health benefits to over 5,000 county workers and retirees. Across the nation, county tax payers contribute billions of dollars to the American health care system every year and their elected representatives must be at the table as full partners in order to achieve the goals of access and affordability in health care.
So let’s continue to have our voices heard in Washington through the strength of tens of thousands of county officials from across the country. And to quote our great President,
“The greatest gap in our social security structure is the lack of adequate provision for the Nation’s health. We are rightly proud of the high standards of medical care we know how to provide in the United States. The fact is, however, that most of our people cannot afford to pay for the care they need. I have often and strongly urged that this condition demands a national health program. This great Nation cannot afford to allow its citizens to suffer needlessly from the lack of proper medical care. Our ultimate aim must be a comprehensive insurance system to protect all our people equally against insecurity and ill health.”
The statement was made by President Harry S. Truman in 1945.
Only through our collective efforts, not overreaction, can we ensure that any health reform is what the doctor ordered for us.
Eric Coleman represents Oakland County’s 23rd District.