February 17, 2011
By Staff Reporter
The Democrats have presented us with a pricetag of over a trillion, the Republicans with a cost of just over $60 billion.
Suffice it to say, there’s one heck of a hill of beans between these two estimates. And if we need a more raw illustration of the gulf between the Democrats and Republicans on health care reform we need look no further than this fiscal chasm.
Be that as it may, the Congress has honed its skills down the years in bridging divides, although this one leaves most in the dust.
But of course there’s a lot more to health care than just money. It’s one of a handful of issues that touches on the moral core of our nation, the “who we are” part of it.
Rightfully, the United States presents itself to the world as a leader in advanced medical care. If you’re going to get sick, and for sure if you’re going to be stricken with some rare condition, this country is the place to be.
The U.S. is also the destination for many from around the world seeking cures for all manner of ailments.
But the best of care isn’t, as we all know, always available to all. And insurance to cover care in any form or degree, we know for certain, is not available to many millions of citizens.
As much as there is a financial side to health care, there is also a moral one. It is to be hoped that the upcoming debate in the Senate – this after the narrow House of Representatives approval of its own version of a reform plan – pays due heed to the moral dimension to this issue, in all its aspects.
Clearly, there will have to give and take and what emerges, if anything at all, is likely to be a good deal less than perfect.
But like perfect health, what we aspire to is not always what we get. Sometimes it’s just the means to carry on, to get by.
Far too many Americans can’t even do that with regard to caring for their health and that is a societal malady that needs to be cured, one way or another.
As such, we have a right to a meaningful debate, not a political filibuster designed simply to stop the reform process in its tracks.