WHICH AMERICANS SHOULD GET HEALTH CARE

Leaders of the new majority in Congress have announced their determination to undo recently enacted legislation which makes adequate health care available to all American citizens, a program they call Obamacare. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell from Kentucky and Republican Whip Eric Cantor of Virginia in the House have issued declarations which are equivalent to the famous mythical response to the plight of hungry people of France, “Qu'ils mangent de la brioche.” Let them eat cake. Their determination to destroy the health care program takes second place only to their vow to keep the president from being elected to a second term.

In 1945 President Harry Truman, with a Republican House and a Republican Senate tried to establish a national health insurance plan but was stopped by opponents who warned of the dangers of “socialized medicine.” Truman backed off, but some people in government didn’t give up on the idea. Administrators within the Social Security system worked to develop a plan aimed at insuring Social Security beneficiaries, but it wasn’t until 1965 during President Lyndon John’s administration that Medicare and Medicaid programs were signed into law. Former President Harry Truman was the first to enroll in Medicare.

Many Americans don’t seem to know that even before the enactment last year of the Healthcare legislation by Congress, Americans who had worked at least forty quarters, paying into the Social Security Program, have been eligible under Medicare for considerable financial help in paying for medical treatment of conditions related to catastrophic illnesses such as polio or kidney failure. For example almost all dialysis or kidney transplant patients are eligible for Medicare. There are two parts to Medicare: Part A (or Hospital Insurance) and Part B (or Medical Insurance). Part A pays for most costs of being in the hospital. Part B pays 80% of dialysis costs, doctor bills, and other outpatient services. Even the most rigidly resistant legislators in fights to avoid “socialized medicine” couldn’t find a connection between deadbeats and kidney failure. Few ten-year-old American kids who developed kidney failure were fortunate enough to live in families who could even begin to pay for medical care, so we finally got some help for some people. Cancers apparently weren’t catastrophic enough... neither were disfiguring accidents and diseases. Even for people who were financially able to buy health insurance, a precondition was covered in most policies. The new healthcare program won’t allow insurance companies to refuse to insure people who are already sick. President Obama wants all Americans to have access to care when they are sick. So do I.