--by James W. Squires, M.D., EH President
Twenty-five weekly polls from Rasmussen Reports find support for health reform repeal pulsating in a narrow band between 52 percent and 63 percent all year long. [blog.timesunion.com/capitol/]. This is grist for the political mill. Minority Leader John Boehner vowed to undo the health care law. "They'll get not one dime from us. Not a dime. There is no fixing this," Boehner told the Cincinnati Examiner in an editorial meeting that addressed his plans should he become leader of the House.
This sort of talk got me thinking about creating public policy that feels itself obliged to precisely reflect polling. During the period leading up to the start of the Civil War [April, 1861] suppose the Rasmussen Reports discovered that between 52 percent and 63 percent of Americans believe the Union should be divided and the south should simply go its own way. “We’ll not vote one dime for a war effort, not a dime. There is no fixing this” thundered powerful members of Congress? Would our history have been different?
Let us suppose, however, that the demolishers succeed and that sometime around 2014 the Accountable Care Act is repealed and not one additional “dime” is appropriated going forward. “Repeal” thunders forth from the mouths of candidates for national office. If successful, almost assuredly the following will take place: (1) Children with pre-existing conditions will lose coverage; (2) Preventive measures (mammograms, EKGs, urine analysis, colonoscopies, etc) will again become out of pocket expenses; (3) At least 40,000 people in New Hampshire who are about to be covered under Medicaid will no longer be eligible; (4) Your policy can again be cancelled by the insurance carrier; (5) Dependent Children living out of state will no longer be eligible for coverage under their parent’s (parent) plan. (6) Adults with pre-existing conditions who thought they could not be denied coverage will find themselves shut out.
The two great issues being addressed by the Accountable Care Act are to change the systems that deliver health care services and how those services are paid for. Health Reform is now the law and we can take pride in the ongoing efforts in New Hampshire to bring about long overdue and much needed change.
So for me, I want to be a builder. I want to build on the opportunities offered by health reform to make health services affordable and available to every person in New Hampshire. As for those who want to demolish this potential to change, count me out. And don’t count on poll data to bring me back into a mindset that looks backward and inward.