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“Stabilizing or bringing down health care costs is a win for the economy.” |
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Given that the economy is (rightly) the #1 issue for voters, that’s where the focus of our politicians should be, right? And to a certain extent, it is. But a look at the advertising numbers tells a slightly different story. DDay picks up on the trend:
Obama has put a significant amount of money into talking about health care, with a whopping 68% of his TV ads devoted at least in part to the issue, including 86% in October. That shows you that the potential is there to make reform an urgent priority. Our health care crisis is tied to the economic woes of the country - US companies are less competitive than their counterparts abroad because they have to also be a giant HMO, skyrocketing costs are putting a giant hole in the federal budget, and treating the uninsured costs everyone in increased premiums.
As DDay explains, we shouldn’t be surprised that Obama is spending his money and possibly winning this election because of health care. At its heart, health care is about healthy people, and healthy people are the engine of our economy.
Ken Jacobs, the chair of the UC Berkeley Center for Labor Research and Education, had a great op-ed in the Sacramento Bee this weekend elaborating on this point:
…as unemployment increases, so does the number of people with no health insurance. The Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured found that a one-percentage-point rise in unemployment nationally results in 1.1 million more uninsured and 1 million more enrollees in Medicaid and the State Children’s Health Insurance Program. The U.S. unemployment rate is already up 1.2 percentage points since January.
Declining job-based coverage is shifting costs onto state and local governments at the same time they face budget shortfalls due to the economic downturn. As more people lose their health insurance, they turn to government programs for assistance with their health care, which places increased demand on these governments that are already in the red. Additionally, if people go to emergency rooms because they haven’t been able to afford to treat less- severe health conditions that then worsened, the burden of that more-expensive emergency care will be born by cities and states.
There is evidence that rising under- and un-insurance is directly contributing to the current financial crisis. A study recently published in a Case Western Reserve University journal of health law documented that medical crises contributed to a surprising half of all home foreclosures. It surveyed homeowners in California, Florida, Illinois and New Jersey who were on the brink of foreclosure, had defaulted on their home loans or whose lenders had initiated legal foreclosure proceedings. The researchers found that “if these patterns hold nationwide, medical causes may put as many as 1.5 million Americans in jeopardy of losing their homes each year.”
Stabilizing or bringing down health care costs is a win for the economy. Keeping people healthy, productive and in the work force is a win for the economy. Giving people greater freedom to choose between jobs or to leave a job and start their own businesses is a win for the economy. Keeping people from losing their homes because of their medical bills is a win for the economy.
The fact that the economy is reeling from financial turmoil is not a reason to avoid doing health care reform; it’s a reason to make health care reform a top priority.
The line that I emphasized is key. Fix health care and we fix our economy. Fail to fix health care and rising unemployment, falling wages, and skyrocketing health care costs make the economy worse.
Of course, there’s another reason Obama is spending a lot to talk about health care. In the words of Jane Hamsher at Firedoglake, John McCain’s health care plan is “full of shit.” Here’s John McCain’ explaining his health care plan in his own words:
(also posted at the NOW! blog)
