This is what President Barack Obama needed to do.
Obama delivered a speech that reset the healthcare reform debate and has been widely praised as being one of the best since his campaign. In this speech, he laid out his idea of a public option (which would be a non-profit insurance plan for those who don’t have insurance within the insurance exchange), then laid out his plan for how to get everyone insured, which should raise skepticism, since most states require drivers to have auto insurance, yet there are those who drive without the required insurance. His assertion that he will not sign a bill that raises the deficit should also be taken with a grain of salt. This bill will be costly, and it more than likely will force more government spending.
Still, I heard many things that I liked in Obama’s plan. It turns out, Obama’s been studying the Swiss and German systems, which employ insurance exchanges, forbid companies from denying coverage to those who have pre-existing conditions, and ban caps on coverage. I liked his comparison to public colleges and universities in the United States, as this drew an easily-understandable analogy for a wider audience. I went to both a private university and a public one. Northwestern isn’t suffering because the University of Illinois exists — trust me on this one. Obama was on point when he noted that those who pay premiums are paying for those who don’t have insurance. When an uninsured person goes to the emergency room, just who do you think is paying for that visit? The insured, who pay for that visit via higher premiums and higher charges for services. It’s much cheaper to treat a problem or disease early rather than wait until it becomes acute.
The one part of his speech that was pleasantly surprising was his paean to Republicans: malpractice/tort reform. This is a desperately needed component to health care reform and driving down the costs of health care itself, as doctors fear being sued by their patients. This leads to defensive medicine, ordering every test imanginable just to cover one’s backside, and drives up the cost for everyone. The final bill will address this in some form, as I think this will get at least some Republicans to vote for the final bill.
Obama also did a good job of reminding everyone what exactly the stakes are in this debate. By using the example of people who have had their chemotherapy treatment affected by a health insurance company complaining about gallstones which the patient didn’t know he had, Obama brought an esoteric debate down to human level. That will be important in the coming weeks, as the legislative process unfolds.
Obama also did an excellent job of keeping his tone neutral when attacking his critics. Nevermind Rep. Joe Wilson, who forgot the House’s rules about not calling anyone a liar (Obama took the high road on accepting his apology. The Republicans may have lost this debate in those two little words), Obama countered this past summer’s punches with facts and congeniality. He pointed out that there were no such things as “death panels,” and that the government was already in the business of healthcare (Medicare, anyone?). Obama displayed something that will be useful to him down the road: he kept his tone steady, even as others tried to shout him down. He reminded everyone why we liked him in the first place.
My only criticism of the speech itself was the way he ended it. He should have ended the speech with his poignant remembrances of Sen. Ted Kennedy. That segment of the speech will go down in history as one of the most poetic moments in any political speech given in Congress. Reminding Americans that even senators have children who are stricken with cancer, was a great moment. Obama mentioned that Kennedy never forgot how fortunate he was to be able to afford the best treatment for his son, who lost his leg to cancer, and that he never forgot that fact.
For millions of families struggling to figure out how to get the very best treatment for their children (and perhaps for themselves) without going bankrupt, Obama’s speech Wednesday night should signal that there are better days ahead for America and its healthcare system.
Political Globe 