Health care reform is needed for a variety of reasons, and not just because somewhere between 8 million to 47 million people (I'm giving the wide range cited by conservative researchers and the government's estimates) need it and don't have it. The U.S., as powerful and productive as we are, isn't ranked very high on many health measures, including the efficiency of the system and desirable outcomes, when we are compared to other developed nations. Health emergencies cause roughly 60 percent of personal bankrupcties and is one of the drags on small businesses and a reason why the Big Three is no longer the Big Three, making it an economicissue. And even those who have employer-sponsored health care have seen their costs skyrocket, including out-of-pocket and co-pays. We should be doing better than this, yet much of the debate now doesn't seem focused on what's the smartest way to make the system better, but rather on the politic wrangling and gamesmanship. It's ridiculous. How do we move beyond that? That's what President Obama signed up for; he needs to deliver.
NYT: What’s in it for me? ... We may not be aware of this stealth $6,500 health care tax, but if you take a moment to think, it makes sense. Over the last 20 years, health costs have soared, and incomes have grown painfully slowly. The two trends are directly connected: employers had to spend more money on benefits, leaving less for raises. In exchange for the $6,500 tax, we receive many things. We get cutting-edge research and heroic surgeries. But we also get fabulous amounts of waste — bureaucratic and medical.
