Earlier this summer, my mother tripped over our dog and broke her ankle.
Four months and three surgeries later, she is still in a walking cast and has managed to rack up more than $20,000 in hospital costs. Lucky for her she had health insurance … or so she thought.
Because she was late on a payment two months earlier, her insurance carrier denied her claim and dropped her coverage completely. Her carrier did this even though she has paid more than $15,000 for her health plan in the last 10 years without ever making a prior claim.
As much of a travesty as this is, it could have been avoided. Sure, she could have made the payment on time, but truth be told, she just didn’t have the money. There could, however, have been a safety net in place to help people in her situation.She would have had guaranteed health insurance provided by her employer. The American people could have had guaranteed health care.
Ten years ago, President Clinton sought to give every American guaranteed health insurance with his proposed Health Security Act. His plan, however, became the victim of an intense special interest lobbying campaign. The Health Insurance Association of America and the National Federation of Independent Business spent more than $50 million combined to ensure the plan’s defeat.
Had President Clinton’s plan gone into effect, my mother would have had her hospital bills taken care of. But that never happened. The health-care system in the United States continues to be the worst in the industrialized world. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, more than 43 million people are uninsured.
Yet guaranteed health care has not received any attention from lawmakers on Capitol Hill, and the president is more concerned with terrorism and tax cuts – tax cuts that have starved the government of billions of dollars.
According to Princeton economist Paul Krugman, most families got an $800 reduction in their taxes.
So what do the American people want, health insurance or tax cuts? Would the typical family give up $800 in tax savings for health care that could never be taken away, no matter what?
As Paul Krugman notes, if given a choice, most Americans would choose guaranteed health insurance because “if American families knew what was good for them, then most of them,” all but a small, affluent minority, “would cheerfully give up their tax cuts in return for a guarantee that health care would be there when needed. And even the affluent might prefer to live in a society where no sick child was left behind.” I know my mom would.
Ryan Seher is a columnist for the Daily Utah Chronicle at the University of Utah. He appeared on U-Wire.
