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Ellen Belcher is the Dayton Daily News opinion pages editor. She writes about state government, education, the environment, higher education and all things Dayton.
Martin Gottlieb is an editorial writer and columnist for the Dayton Daily News opinion pages. He focuses on the political process itself and does such national issues as war, the economy, taxes and Social Security, as well as a hodge-podge of local and state issues.
Scott Elliott is an editorial writer and columnist for the Dayton Daily News opinion pages. He writes about education, city and suburban issues, politics, business, workforce and consumer issues.Home > Blogs > A Matter of Opinion > Archives > 2010 > March > 16
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Editorial: Health care reform partly in Ohio’s hands
“Ohio gets full court press,” was one headline on Politico.com for much of the day Tuesday, March 16.
It was in reference to the fact that President Barack Obama is pushing wavering Ohio Democratic members of Congress hard to vote for health care reform.
There’s no hope of any Republicans voting for the bill, so it all comes down to the Democrats. Specifically, 216 “yes” votes are needed for a majority (after vacancies are accounted for).
A dozen or so members have been on the fence, with possibly as many as four of those reps from Ohio.
President Obama, when he was in Strongsville on Tuesday, was unabashedly courting Cleveland’s Rep. Dennis Kucinich, who voted “no” on health care reform last year because it didn’t go far enough. (He’s a supporter of the single-payer plan, effectively extending Medicare to everyone.)
Rep. Marcy Kaptur, from the Toledo area, has had concerns that there aren’t enough restrictions on public money going for abortion. Rep. John Boccieri, from near Cleveland, has been noncommittal, and he didn’t show for the president’s appearance.
Finally, Rep. Steve Driehaus, from the Cincinnati area, has gotten the attention of the administration, with the vice president flying in to host a fundraiser for him.
That Ohio would be in the thick of things isn’t shocking. The state has a large number of uninsured. Many families have gone from having profoundly good health insurance — because someone in the household worked in manufacturing, especially auto manufacturing — to having no coverage.
Meanwhile, the state is also not reflexively Democratic or Republican, Depending on how you see it, Ohio voters can be fickle, independent or suspicious of both parties’ big ideas.
If health care reform is defeated, absolutely that will be embarrassing for the president and Democrats. But political victory or defeat is not what this decision is about.
The country is at a juncture:
Are we or aren’t we going to extend affordable health care to nearly all Americans? And are we going to insist that Americans who can afford to buy insurance do so, while also requiring those who can’t pay the full cost still pay something toward coverage?
There is much that’s wrong with the pending bill, but there is much that’s wrong with every massively complicated piece of legislation.
Morevoer, does anyone believe that there isn’t a lot wrong with the current system — 50 million people without coverage; an insurance system that protects you when you’re well, but kicks you to the curb when you get sick; cost structures that result in huge sums being spent on marketing and processing claims instead of services to patients?
Will a lot of effort have to be put into fixing things that are not right if the bill passes? Absolutely. That is the nature of doing something complex. But it happens all the time, too, when Congress makes far less historic, sweeping change.
Republicans would have you believe that this legislation is so awful that the only solution is to start over. That is not a plan; it is a stalling strategy. But stalling for what?
The current system is unsustainable for everyone. Insurance rates keep going up both for businesses and individuals. Young people continue to choose not to buy insurance, sticking hospitals and those who do buy insurance with their bills. Medicaid rolls are soaring, forcing states to limit eligibility, cut spending elsewhere and reduce how much they reimburse doctors. People who want to buy insurance can’t get it if they’ve ever had a serious illness.
The canard that the plan is socialized medicine is ridiculous. Private insurers would have all the business they have today and more because of the requirement to purchase coverage.
Win or lose this vote, the president and Democrats are in for tough political times. At least if they win, some 30 million people will get health insurance and some immoral elements of a broken system will be no more.
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