Complexities of Health Care Reform Part 1

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President Obama spoke to a Joint Session of Congress this past week, during which he outlined to the members of the House of Representatives and Senate, as well as the American people, about the alarming direction this country is moving in and presented some bold ideas for turning this direction around.  Personally I found his proposals to be both daring and hopeful, while at the same time some needed further thought.  It is also clear that we must have rules for managing the new regulations and operations that will be required to meet these goals and handle the oversight responsibilities connected to the billions of taxpayer dollars being spent to turn the economy around and build a stronger United States.

On Thursday the President took his call for action one step further and presented a ten- year budget forecast to Congress, although not in such a public and dramatic format.  In developing a budget the President, whomever he is, illustrates the priorities of the federal government for the immediate and short-term future.  President Obama outlined some of the major policies and priorities of his Administration in these two presentations, and I am going to address some of the issues in just one of those priorities in this Post, the reform of the nation’s health care system.

An estimated 76.2 million American’s live with chronic pain.

Estimates range between 27 million and 54 million Americans live with a chronic illness, such as Parkinson’s, Multiple Sclerosis, Heart or Lung Disease, or any number of illnesses that cannot be cured but can be treated, giving the person an opportunity for life, but often a life severely affected by the manifestations of these conditions.

Over 40 Americans live with a physical disability of some kind, whether it is the result of a genetic birth condition, an illness, or an injury.

And some people, like me, live each day with all three of these conditions influencing every aspect of our lives; in fact between the chronic pain from my spine condition that I have lived with for about 45 years, the progressive, physically challenging symptoms of MS, which I have had for either 29+ years, 11 years, or don’t have at all, depending on which doctor you ask, and the physical disabilities that I deal with from both of the above, I am no longer to live even a close approximation of the life I once enjoyed.  I have been an active consumer of the health care system, with all its wisdom and warts.

Yes, I believe we need to analyze and reform the current health care system in America.  There are xxx people with no health insurance, xxx of them children, in this country today.  The cost of health care is so high that without coverage you might not be getting regular medical care at all— taking the discussion of quality care right off the table.  We must develop a system of health care that meets the needs of all our children, and all Americans, regardless of age, race, physical condition, income or nationality.