- Keller picks up on the health care controversy in his interview with Niki Tsongas this morning; asks her to defend her comments that the free market will take care of health care costs. She doesn’t answer the question, instead talking about how we need universal health care and how the Massachusetts plan will get us there quickly. But I’m boring you; you’ve heard this before.
I like puppies; but I might check to see if the cute one at the pound has had its shots.
- From the invaluable Dick Howe: Eileen Donoghue indicates some understanding of the nuts and bolts of the health care crisis, from having been on the board of a hospital, but it’s still hard to say exactly what kind of policy she’d advocate for:
… The question you must ask is do you want to wait for the perfect solution or do you want to get the most coverage for the most people as soon as possible. I want a program that will provide coverage quickly … I want to be part of the solution and not just embrace a slogan. At least Massachusetts has tried something although it doesn’t seem to be working very well so far. But let me finish by saying I believe that health care is a right and not a privilege.
OK, so let’s run down what she’s saying: Universal coverage = good; Massachusetts plan = fast way to universal coverage; Massachusetts not working very well so far. Hrrrrrmmm …
As with all the candidates, I welcome her to hold forth as thoroughly as she wishes on these pages.
I should say this: I’m not necessarily looking for someone who’s got all the answers on this issue. I sure would be interested in someone who knows the issue, knows the moving parts, who knows how to outline a vision (i.e. lead) — and who plays well with others and can create coalitions. Those just can’t be mutually exclusive.
I caught the piece with Keller and Tsongas and the first thought I had as soon as she stopped talking was “She didn’t answer the question”. I think when these interviews or debates take place one of the ground rules should be: When asked a question the first word out of you mouth must be yes or no. If it is not your mike gets shut off. You can expand as much as you want within the alloted time but you must start with yes or no.
Well, not really. Even though I am not supporting Niki, I am surprised that she has been so wishy-washy on this issue. Doesn’t she have a bunch of high-paid consultants advising her? Then again, if she does, her lack of a position isn’t a shock, because if the Gore and Kerry campaigns taught us anything, it is that political consultants try to make you all things to all people. This is what we’re seeing Niki do as it pertains to this issue: she doesn’t want to offend either side. I think she is also concerned that if she comes out too strongly against single payer, her membership on the board of the “small” (her word, not mine) HMO Fallon Community Health Plan might become a big issue. This is not something she wants.
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This speaks to a broader problem in politics of candidates and politicians refusing to take stands on tough issues. Forgetting my support for Jamie Eldridge for a second, at the very least any one can acknowledge that he is principled and will tell you exactly what he thinks. Dick Howe said as much in this sharp post this weekend:
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http://richardhowe.c…
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Candidates should stop trying to please everybody, and just tell us what they want to do. Sadly, most candidates want to live in the center, and what we get as a result is a Congress like what we had for the last decade. Perhaps single payer is not possible in the immediate future, as Eileen Donoghue has argued. Fine. But does that mean we should completely abandon it for all time? We’re never going to fix the health care crisis with never-ending band-aid solutions like the MMA in 2003.
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And, incidentally, I have a problem with people saying there is no “political will” for single payer. That’s bunk. A recent poll by Stan Greenberg (I don’t have a link right now) found overall national support for it at 52% and a whooping 70% among Democrats. If 70% of Democrats across America support single payer, I imagine the number is even higher in Massachusetts. There is ample political will for government to move on single payer, and our leaders should take note of this.
It’s become shorthand, but check her quotes, Niki Tsongas has never said the “free market” will “take care of health care costs.” She said the market will be a component. Even Sen. Kennedy’s bill has private care as an option. She also has said she wants the best plan as immediately as possible, which could include single payer, though many observers are concerned that this plan could be “dead on arrival” due not to the Democrats but to the present “head in the sand” administration and Republicans in general.
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You can criticize Tsongas for her market comments, but let’s not exagerate or make it some litmus test for goodness and purity.
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Finally, anyone who thinks that Jamie or anyone else is going to play a significant role as a Freshman Congressman in determining health care policies and single payer vs. multipayer, is very naive.
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Health care is critically important. Let’s have a healthy debate, but not a subjective litmus test. Part of a campaign is about education – for candidates too!
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Will
Sorry Will, but I don’t have a litmus test. I’m not a single-payer fundamentalist, and of course I doubt that were he elected, Jamie Eldridge would immediately lead a single-payer stampede — in spite of potential public enthusiasm. And BTW, the problem is not Dems or Repubs, it’s lobbyists and special interest cash.
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For the record, this is from Dick Howe’s notes:
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I can imagine a reasonable response from Tsongas in defense of a reformed market-based approach: Better information regarding treatments, etc. And then yeah, we could have a real discussion. But she hasn’t made those arguments. As I pointed out, she doesn’t even clarify her own comments when given every possible opportunity.
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I’m sorry, the person who’s refusing to have a “healthy debate” about health care is (especially) Niki Tsongas. And that’s a shame. If it’s “critically important”, she should act like it.
here.
Single payer, not by my estimation in the cards in the near future [footnote 1], has even less chance now with California and Massachusetts Mandate Insurance than it did only 6 months ago.
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My reasoning: Mass/Calif will either succeed or fail. If it succeeds then, no single payer, because many/most of the states will copy the Mass/Calif model. If the Mass/Calif model fails, it won’t die overnight, it’ll flounder around for many, many years.
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Footnote 1: Calif/Mass Legislation notwithstanding, single payer is going nowhere fast, because i) the poor are insured via Medicaid ii) the old are insured via Medicare iii) the upper middle class are insured via their employers and various plans.
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That leaves only the lower middle class uninsured. The lower middle class doesn’t vote! And, the people who do vote don’t care enough about the lower middle class to support a broad tax increase to pay for insurance that they already have.
I get what you’re saying, but you can safely say my husband and I are reaching more middle-to-upper-middle class status the last couple of years (it helps having no kids, those things cost a fortune!) and have h solid ealth care.
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That said, a) the quality TOTALLY sucks (and I have the supposed “middle-road” BCBS coverage), b) it still costs way too much/month EVEN only paying 50% of the premium which we share with the employer and c) my (future) property tax rate’s going up because of the skyrocketing cost of insuring municiple employees.
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So, as a middle income on the upper level of not-screwed-by-life, this is a serious issue for me and I vote for people who share my value with health care. I think there’s a lotta people like me too. We all feel we are one step away from the crapper in this precarious environment, even if we’re doing pretty OK in life.