Tip of the hat to my friend Yul Ejnes who tweeted this article – What Happens If Nothing Happens to Health Care?

Barring a political miracle, we're going to learn the cost of doing nothing—nothing significant to restrain health-care cost increases, nothing to prod the health-care system to produce more benefit for each dollar it takes, nothing to expand health-insurance coverage.

This, too, will be ugly and unpopular.

"Failure to enact health reform will result in increasing numbers of people without health insurance because fewer employers will offer it and many employees will not be able to pay the cost of plans that are available," predicts Stephen Zuckerman, a health economist at Washington's Urban Institute think tank.

"For people not offered employer coverage, many will not be able to get coverage due to pre-existing conditions that insurers won't cover or because premiums simply won't be affordable. Even people with coverage will find costs becoming a greater financial burden," he said.

And all of us—employers, workers and taxpayers—will spend ever more on health care.

We should have a legitimate discussion on the best methods to reach the most desirable results.  Both political parties have failed us. 

The Democrats have spent too much time adding pet projects and trying to keep various constituencies happy.  The Republicans have failed to add creatively, preferring to gain political points for their opposition.

The Democrats have failed to tell the stories that will help the American people understand the problem.  The Republicans have use disingenuous slogans.

The pollsters have not helped.  They find that most Americans are happy with their health insurance.  The pollsters ask the wrong question.

We need more stories about people losing insurance through no fault of their own.  We need more stories about small businesses failing to grow because health care is so costly.  We need stories about bankruptcies.  We need stories about real income decreasing because the employee contribution to health insurance costs keeps rising.  We need stories about Big Pharma increasing their prices faster than inflation.  We need stories about the true costs of imaging studies and contrast those costs with the prices charged.  We need stories about the varied deals that insurance companies make with hospitals.  We need the American public to develop the sense of outrage about health care costs that many physicians have.  Excellent health care need not be so expensive.

Now I do not love the Democratic bills.  They have flaws.  But they are generally better than the status quo.  The status quo really is unacceptable.

I have no faith in our politicians developing a reasonable solution to this issue.  I see no profiles in courage.  I do see many self-aggrandizing talking heads playing issues for re-election purposes. 

So I am caught in a quandary.  I am supporting bills with flaws.  But then all bills have flaws, and we must focus on whether the good exceeds the bad.  I think it does.

Related posts:

1. Are the Democrats destroying health care reform?
2. Listen to the stories
3. Sticky messages – even when false
4. Some thoughts on health care reform
5. The complexity of health care reform

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