Last night I watched on television as both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama spoke to crowds of their supporters after the close of the Wisconsin primary. I found something to like in both speeches. The following is my favorite moment from Hillary Clinton’s speech (read the transcript here):
I will not rest until every American is covered. That is my solemn promise to you. My opponent leaves out at least 15 million Americans. The question is: Who would we leave out? Would we leave out the mother I met who grabbed my arm and said the insurance company wouldn’t pay for the treatment that her son needed? Will we leave that family out?
This is an excellent rhetorical question: who are you going to say no to? It brings out the communitarian impulse in Americans. There are some times with some people who want some medical procedures when “no” will actually be the appropriate answer. No, you may not have 15 CT scans that will give you cancer to make sure you don’t have cancer. No, the Emergency Room is not an appropriate place to have a chat about your hangnail. No, you may not have a prescription for morphine, one pound, stat. But Hillary Clinton’s health care question puts us in a position to identify the exceptions to her health care proposal in a way that actually accepts it as a starting point. That’s good strategy if you actually want your proposal to move forward.
Obama may be basing his health care plan on the Illinois system. In Illinois the people who are covered are the disabled, over 65, under 19, and parents of children. Not covered are those people between ages 19-65 who have failed to procreate.
The family gets a medical card. They pay a sliding scale for medical care and prescriptions based on income. It is the same as medicaid, and goes to the same desk for processing, but is called something else–it was “KidCare” but I think it has yet another name now. You used to be able to get a job with health coverage here, but I don’t know anyone who has that anymore. When the last child turns 19 (or is it 20) there is no longer a “qualifying member” in the household, they can’t get health care anymore, and I suppose they move to Florida.
That’s not Obama’s health care plan.