Quick disclaimer.
I am a fierce champion of single payer. I am on the board of California OneCare, one of the most active single payer organizations in California. But right now, we are several heartbeats away from the opening of the health insurance exchanges. So let's take a real world look at what we might expect.
Take a deep breath and continue reading.
The task facing the administration is Herculean, quite literally changing the psyche of the American people. American have long accepted that in this country healthcare is a privilege reserved to the affluent and those still with employer provided insurance. We're now being told, throw away those beliefs the future is here, and the future belongs to those who buy for-profit private insurance.
We've segued from each man/woman for herself, to we're all in this together.
The biggest and most critical hurdle is to sell the young 18-34 year old cohort on the need for them to enroll. Without this group of Americans, which the Administration estimates is around 2.7 million strong, the exchanges will implode due to a phenomenon called adverse selection.
Despite my grave reservations and deep concern about the implementation of Obamacare, I would urge anyone who can lend a hand, to go to the web site of Enroll America and do whatever you can, to help get young people happily enrolled. Without their participation, We. Are. Toast.
As Robert Pear wrote yesterday in the New York Times,"For Obamacare to Work, Everyone Must Be In". And the sine qua non of the ACA are the young invincibles who must be persuaded to enroll.
So struggling Americans, still reeling from the 2008 crisis, are being asked/required to accept the for-profit insurance industry, and pay staggering premiums and deductibles, just to get a foot in the door to the most expensive, but far from the best healthcare system in the world. We are being told that the barbaric belief system which continues to be embraced by tens of millions, that healthcare is only for those who can pay, is all wrong, and a new day has arrived.
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Up until now, healthcare in the United States has been a privilege. Some would argue, and I would agree, that even with the new day we are all awaiting, healthcare will remain a privilege and as many of us have long feared, many/most of us who will comply with the law, will have insurance in name only.
What do we mean by insurance in name only?
