I am very fortunate that I had the opportunity to be in the Gallery last night for the President’s speech on healthcare. It was a historic evening and I am confident we heard the outline for legislation that will become law.
As a business owner, I understand our healthcare system is broken. Every year we go through a lengthy process of bidding our coverage to the insurance companies. Year after year, the results of that process place a greater burden on both our employees and our company. The fact is, our employees’ healthcare expense has grown significantly more than their incomes and our employer contribution each year grows as a large percentage of our corporate expenses.
I am surely not a healthcare expert, but I am certain that we need to reform our system or risk further economic crisis. We cannot continue to spend over 15 percent of GDP on healthcare and expect to be an economic superpower.
Now, the difficult part is what do we do to improve the system? This issue is so complicated that I have been nervous to comment as I admit I don’t understand all the causes and effects. After hearing the President last night, I want to discuss a few issues that particularly impressed me.
First, the President made a passionate case for the “progressive capitalist”. He spoke for the vast middle of this Country who want free markets but require accountability and action. The President so eloquently reminded us:
“You see, our predecessors understood that government could not, and should not, solve every problem. They understood that there are instances when the gains in security from government action are not worth the added constraints on our freedom. But they also understood that the danger of too much government is matched by the perils of too little; that without the leavening hand of wise policy, markets can crash, monopolies can stifle competition, the vulnerable can be exploited. And they knew that when any government measure, no matter how carefully crafted or beneficial, is subject to scorn; when any efforts to help people in need are attacked as un-American; when facts and reason are thrown overboard and only timidity passes for wisdom, and we can no longer even engage in a civil conversation with each other over the things that truly matter — that at that point we don’t merely lose our capacity to solve big challenges. We lose something essential about ourselves.”
Second, the President kept a government option on the table but only as a means to an end, to cover all Americans. If the private sector were to take responsibility for this, then the government option would not be required. From an economic perspective we all pay for those that go uncovered but only at the most tragic and expensive times, at the emergency room. I am involved in Mount Sinai Medical Center on Miami Beach and the amount of uncompensated care the hospital provides on an annual basis is mind blowing.
Third, the President truly reached across the isle. As a progressive capitalist, I was excited to hear him put medical malpractice reform on the table. In this process neither Republicans or Democrats can have their sacred cows. There is no question the practice of defensive medicine is one of the contributing factors to our broken system. However, reform must be responsible and address the true problems not merely penalize trial attorneys.
I was inspired by the President last night. Healthcare is such a sensitive issue that impacts all or our lives in the most profound ways. I hope partisanship and fear do not stop reform that is so badly needed.
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