Healthcare Issues and the Breath of Life
by Karen Kay Leonard, LWVIN President

Recent tempests in town hall and other meetings about healthcare coverage have amazed and depressed me. Debate is essential to a healthy democracy, but media coverage has displayed baiting, disruption and obdurate heckling. Citizens of the USA, who are fortunate to enjoy great freedom, are employing that freedom to obfuscate rather than to learn. What causes such acrimony? Misunderstanding could cause it. So could self-interest, or the perceived interest of our friends and relatives. So could partisan hardlining.

However, the question of what to do about health care in the United States is so complex and far-reaching that I expect most people fail to study the issue thoroughly because it is very difficult to understand. That difficulty is enhanced because, when we try to understand the positions of our opponents (them) in relation to our own (us), we realize that our mutual interests tie everything together so tightly that soon little remains except us. Discussing care or costs, we Americans are in the healthcare boat together. No essay can adequately clarify all the angles. However, perhaps a framework for further study may be useful.
  
       
In that framework, one must decide what pieces are sufficiently important to consider. Ultimately, at least the following three aspects will shape decision-making: First, the structure of the healthcare system – who should receive coverage, what constitutes basic coverage, who pays for the care, and methods and rates of payment; second, the roles of professional participants in the system – doctors and other healthcare providers, private health insurance, government health insurance, the pharmaceutical industry, medical supply and device companies, the investment world; and, finally, theoverall effect on the U.S. Economy.

Click on the following links for additional information.
Structure of the healthcare system
Roles of professional participants in the system
Effect on the U.S. economy
           
What does League of Women Voters say about changing the healthcare system?     League of Women Voters, a nonpartisan, nonprofit, grassroots political organization, is advocating for change, especially that which would provide affordable coverage for all.

“The League of Women Voters of the United States believes that a basic level of quality health care at an affordable cost should be available to all U.S. residents. Other U.S. healthcare policy goals should include the equitable distribution of services, efficient and economical delivery of care, advancement of medical research and technology, and a reasonable total national expenditure level for health care.” (http://www.lwv.org)

These aims could be most efficiently achieved through a single-payer system. Meanwhile, League of Women Voters of Indiana and all local Leagues work under the U.S. position, as well as with harmonious associated locally reached positions on related healthcare issues, such as long-term care or specific medical licensure. The League believes that our nation's population is worth caring for. If people are not well enough to work and to rear their children, how will the economy survive? Surely, we cannot disregard the healthcare needs of huge segments of the population!
Join the debate!

Real and reasoned debate must go forward. As engaged Americans, let us stop shouting at one another and begin (a) learning all we can and (b) contacting our legislators with our questions and opinions. Let us actively participate in the national conversation, remembering President Eisenhower's reminder to a fellow veteran that, “. . . in a democracy debate is the breath of life”. NY Times