Health Care Summit 2010 Summary
Health News Today about Health care summit 2010. The president Obama opponents once again revealed their deep-seated, single-minded commitment to enhancing the profit margins of the insurance and drug monopolies. There were no surprises - and next to no useful additions to the debate - from the GOP’s stalwarts, only a repetition of their shopworn proposals for tort reform,
the ability to sell health insurance across state lines (read as: eliminating state consumer protections) and the like.The president’s proposal, an 11-page document released last Monday, along with the summit itself, was clearly aimed at creating a reform posture that would grease the wheels for getting the 51 Senate votes he needs to pass his party’s deeply flawed bill through the reconciliation process.President Obama sought to create an impression of willingness to deal with his Republican opponents from a straight-up gamesmanship point of view. In this regard he prevailed, in my opinion. His skills of debate are quite formidable, as even his most bitter opponents have to admit.
A good starting point is to look at what they are not being offered. They are not being offered a universal plan. They are not being offered comprehensive coverage. In some ways, what they are not being offered is the saddest part of all, because the president, who was elected by a large majority with high expectations - along with solid Democratic majorities in both houses of Congress - has not fulfilled his mandate. Having struck a series of deals with the for-profit health industry, he has been unable to move any genuine health reform legislation forward.
The American people obviously are hurting. The health care crisis has done nothing but worsen in the months succeeding his election. The adverse economic events make certain that there will only be huge increases in the number of uninsured. The last official figure was over 46 million, and it’s hard to believe there will be less than 50 million who lack insurance when this year’s tally takes place.
