Debunking common myths about health-care reform
By Glenn Kessler
WashPost
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
House Republicans plan to press forward Wednesday with their effort to repeal the health-care law enacted last year. They have the votes, so the bill's passage is not in doubt. But the Democrats who control the Senate have no interest in following suit, and President Obama has pledged a veto. So this is mostly a symbolic act. But it's an issue that comes with a number of popular myths that persist and are worth revisiting.
"This is a 'government takeover' of the health-care system."
Republicans repeatedly use this snappy talking point to bash Obama's crowning legislative achievement - but it is simply not true.
In many ways, the health-care law resembles the reform legislation that Massachusetts enacted in 2006 under then-Gov. Mitt Romney (a Republican and potential presidential rival of Obama in 2012). It builds on the existing private insurance system, adding requirements and incentives to ensure that most people have some form of health insurance.
Under the nation's new law, the private system has no government alternative - this was a potential provision that was dropped during the congressional tussle.
The number of people who qualify for the existing federal-state Medicaid program for the poor will be expanded. States (or the federal government) will run "exchanges," or marketplaces, in which private insurers will sell coverage to individuals and small businesses. But this should mean that more, not fewer, people will get private insurance. Tax credits will also be offered to people who have trouble buying private insurance.
(More here.)
WashPost
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
House Republicans plan to press forward Wednesday with their effort to repeal the health-care law enacted last year. They have the votes, so the bill's passage is not in doubt. But the Democrats who control the Senate have no interest in following suit, and President Obama has pledged a veto. So this is mostly a symbolic act. But it's an issue that comes with a number of popular myths that persist and are worth revisiting.
"This is a 'government takeover' of the health-care system."
Republicans repeatedly use this snappy talking point to bash Obama's crowning legislative achievement - but it is simply not true.
In many ways, the health-care law resembles the reform legislation that Massachusetts enacted in 2006 under then-Gov. Mitt Romney (a Republican and potential presidential rival of Obama in 2012). It builds on the existing private insurance system, adding requirements and incentives to ensure that most people have some form of health insurance.
Under the nation's new law, the private system has no government alternative - this was a potential provision that was dropped during the congressional tussle.
The number of people who qualify for the existing federal-state Medicaid program for the poor will be expanded. States (or the federal government) will run "exchanges," or marketplaces, in which private insurers will sell coverage to individuals and small businesses. But this should mean that more, not fewer, people will get private insurance. Tax credits will also be offered to people who have trouble buying private insurance.
(More here.)
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