Dying For Insurance: The New Party of No and the Party of Everything

Dying For Insurance Blog

Hyperbolic Home of The Virtual Patient

The New Party of No and the Party of Everything

My passion for Healthcare Reform has been diminished somewhat by both parties rushing for resonating rhetoric over substance. The Democrats typically win this battle. If we say the "Party of No" we all know of whom we speak.
While answering some emails I had the Television on one of the cable news channels (one of the ones whom the Democrats approve) and heard "everything we try to present, the answer is always No." My programmed synopses naturally think this person is talking about Republicans, and I start paying attention. The person being interviewed was a moderate Democrat Congressman from Michigan complaining that every amendment that his group attempted to present was greeted with "no, no, no" by the liberal leadership of the Democrat party and he was extremely frustrated. My first thought was if the Democrats are going to start becoming the Party of No, then either this Congressman did not get the memo or there must be a new moniker in the works for Republicans.

Reasonable, constructive cooperation and compromise are officially dead and we are now reduced to listening to politicians create new phrases that obscure the seriousness of policies and create more division in the country, while smirking as if they have just discovered the cure for cancer.

The Democrats and Republicans both have some good ideas, but neither has an exclusive solution. Some of the reform that the nation could get behind are portability, insurance with pre-conditions, not canceling coverage because of a costly disease, competition across state lines, Tort reform and reasonable pay for doctors. When either party is influenced by trial lawyers, pharmaceutical and insurance companies and those lobbying, whatever is passed will not work.

It may be time to think in terms of regulations rather than a total destruction of some parts of the system that work. Something has to change, but there are other ways to control costs and improve coverage rather than scrapping everything.
Democrat politicians have now calculated that there will be more political damage to not getting something passed in the next few months than taking a little longer to consider other opinions. They have control of both houses; if they cannot even agree among themselves, maybe we could afford to take another look. Republicans must admit that there are some parts of the insurance and pharmaceutical industries that have been extremely greedy in the past and need to have some regulations. President Obama must start showing some leadership. Instead he turned over the making of policies to the most liberal factions of his party and no other ideas were considered. I leave the question of which party is the real Party of No to those of you who are keeping score.

TVP tvp@dyingforinsurance.com