A New Beginning for Health Care, What happens now?

Lee Stranahan: I'm About To Dive Into Health Reform's High Risk Pool

Health Care Reform has begun. Now the rubber hits the road. What will actually happen now with health care? Is it really the fault-filled monstrosity that's been predicted? Is it simply a starting point that now must be changed and improved? Mr. Stranahan is living in this brave new world now. An Obama supporter who has now removed his support because:

"Key components of this bill, including the individual mandate, the Cadillac tax, the lack of a public option, the lack of transparency, and the influence of the big pharmaceutical and insurance industries are all completely antithetical to what candidate Obama ran on. So President Obama won his healthcare victory, but he lost my support."

He's now getting ready to dive into the new "high risk pool" that's been offered up by this bill. As with millions of others, what he will be faced with will be the requirement to purchase insurance when what he really needs is simple access to health care.

"What I need now is not insurance. It's healthcare. Of course, there are millions of people all over the world who have access to healthcare but don't have insurance. They live in countries where citizens have the right to healthcare but don't administer it through a system of private insurance."

This is where we are.  In order to receive health care, Americans must have insurance.  Insurance then pays for the health care.  The middle man is the American way of life. It's the way market capitalism works.  It's the infamous "status quo" that Tea Partiers and Republicans are defending with violence, over the top rhetoric, and Luntzian talking points.  Standing between Mr. Stranahan and his health care providers is the private insurance industry.  Think about that for a little.  Mr. Stranahan's life is at stake and it's in the hands of the insurance industry, subject to all the rights and privileges bestowed by the free market.  Mr. Stranahan:

"Will I be able to afford insurance in this new world where Barack Obama tells me '"every American will finally be guaranteed high quality, affordable health care coverage"'?

I suppose that I'm also an American who is guaranteed a high quality affordable gizmo like a 64 Gig iPad with 3G wireless. I suppose I should be thankful that the Apple store will not discriminate against me on the basis of race, gender, religion, sexual orientation or a pre-existing laptop. Sweet land of liberty, where I'm guaranteed what I can afford."

With the new Health Care reform law in place, Mr. Stranahan worries that he still won't be able to join the new high risk pools because of the expense involved, pointing out once again that this bill is flawed, that insurance companies still stand between patients and doctors and that market forces do not provide health care.

Democrats and Progressives have only won a place to stand with this magnificent effort.  The effort must continue. A lever must be found to move the nation towards  Medicare For All.  Mr. Stranahan's life along with millions of others depends on it.