How Will 32 Million People Get Health Care?
What about the Other 13 Million Uninsured?

By Harry Kelber
 
The White House has begun a massive campaign to sell  a skeptical American public, both from the left and the right, on the advantages of the health care law. Polls show that the public remains confused and deeply split over many of the provisions of the new law.

With President Obama’s participation, the expanded White House team will explain how the health care law benefits young people under 26, retirees on prescription drugs and those with “pre-existent conditions,” who can’t be turned down or overcharged for health insurance  coverage.

Yet, there is little or no discussion of the fact that a large vote for the health care law came from those who felt a bond of sympathy for the 45 million people who were uninsured,  and, of course, the uninsured themselves.

It now turns out that between 30 to 32 million people will get health care coverage—but not until 2014.  That leads to a number of questions that the Obama administration are obliged to answer, but have not:

• By how much will the number of uninsured grow between 2010 and 2014? How many of the uninsured will die  for want of emergency care in this period?
• How are the 30 to 32 million uninsured people to be selected for health care coverage? Are there any terms, they must comply with?
• What happens to the 13 to 15 million uninsured people who are not selected for health care coverage?
• What if the newly-insured people cannot afford the high premiums and co-payments and drop out of the insurance plan?

 These questions should be answered by the Obama administration  with a plan of implementation now, not wait until 2014,  to describe how those millions of people will get coverage. Will it be as a special gift to the insurance industry, ready and waiting to pick up millions of new customers?

 Assurances Are Needed for Supporters of Health Care Law

A lot of things can happen between now and 2014 that can cause Congress to change its mind about how many of the uninsured  will be entitled to  health-care insurance under the new law.  Unless there is evidence to the contrary,  the  U.S. government may not have the finances and resources to undertake the monumental task of integrating 30 million people into  it's provisions of the health-care law.

After 2014, there will be bitter resentment among the millions of people who have been left out of the health benefits of the new law. Undoubtedly, there will be lawsuits, with the  uninsured arguing they have been discriminated against. The 10 to12 million undocumented people will also say they have been completely disqualified  from the health care benefits of  the health law.

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In its haste to get a health insurance law passed at any price, so it could claim a major achievement, the White House refrained from discussing  how this monumental organizing effort of providing 30 million people with health insurance will be accomplished. I think President Obama is opening himself up to angry and persistent criticism, and a lot of it will come from his base of supporters.

The smartest thing the President could have done is to favor enrolling all uninsured people  under one system (Medicare), and  like Social Security,  the  cost of the program is paid to the government, while  the health-care operations are run by the states.--Harry Kelber