universal health care

While Republicans are calling for Congress to “repeal and replace” the new Federal health care law, North Carolina's Libertarians want to make more fundamental changes. Several candidates said the law is unconstitutional and an infringement on individual liberty. They support North Carolina joining the 14 states who are suing the Federal government challenging the new law.

Kay Hagan may be talking about a public option as she tours the state this week, but her office says she's still considering various plans and has not yet even endorsed any form of public option — let alone a robust one.

That's interesting, because Talking Points Memo is reporting that a draft of a public option has been leaked from the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions committee - one of the committees Hagan sits on, and the committee most likely to introduce a public option in the Senate. Here's TPM's take on the draft:

Of course this isn't news to anyone at BlueNC, but lately Senator Kay Hagan has come to the center of the debate regarding the central tenant of the Obama health care plan--a public health insurance option to compete with private plans helping drive down costs and giving consumers more choices. For several weeks now, progressives and conservatives alike have been flooding her office urging her to either support or oppose the public plan. Recently, the North Carolina Coalition for Health Care for America Now (NC HCAN) brought over 150 citizens to Washington for a town-hall style meeting in order to lobby Senator Hagan on the issue. An excellent discussion of the meeting and a smaller correspondence between Hagan and several Durham constituents was posted on Daily Kos by TriangleNC. If you haven't read it yet, check it out.

The Medicare vote in the Senate this week, highlighted by Ted Kennedy's triumphant return, was encouraging for proponents of universal health coverage. At least, that's how Paul Krugman sees it (and I agree):

The AP is reporting that the universal health care plan put forward by Senators Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Robert Bennett (R-UT) could be operational by 2012 and be budget-neutral by 2014. A budget-neutral item brings in as much revenue as it costs. The kicker to this plan and one of the reasons it has a host of Republicans as co-sponsors is this:

Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., one of the plan's co-sponsors, said the report showed it is possible to provide health care coverage for all Americans — including the estimated 47 million people who are uninsured — without a large tax increase. "We can get everyone in America health care coverage without breaking the bank," he said.

Universal Health Care without tax increases? How is it possible and where is the catch?

Today's Quote of the Day, from Physicians for a National Health Plan (PNHP) deals with two types of markets and their relationship to health care. It is based on an article in the Journal of the American Medical Association. The theory of the various market systems is not my specialty, however, this articles does a good job of simplifying the competing market models.

Individual resources and choices determine the distribution of health care, with little sense of collective obligation or a role for government. Known as market justice, this approach derives from principles of individualism, self-interest, personal effort, and voluntary behavior. The contrasting approach, social justice, allocates goods and services according to the individual's needs. It stems from principles of shared responsibility and concern for the communal well-being, with government as the vehicle for ensuring equity.

Now, I actually think that Ayn Rand did a good job of "imagining" the worst case scenario in the social justice market in Atlas Shrugged. If you are looking for the worst-case scenario in the market justice model, look no further than health care in America.

Software development - I believe in market justice. Auto manufacturing - I believe in market justice (more so than many Democrats and Republicans that feel we should prop up Michigan's failing auto industry). A system which decides the very life and death of people - not so much.

...Social justice in health care requires universal coverage and ensured access to care, whether through social insurance, private insurance, or some combination.