H.R. 3200

No one can deny that we need health care reform in this country. The question is, who's reform are we going to make a reality?

Rather than posting the ridiculous signs and quotes that are emerging from town hall meetings, I've decided to do something a bit more constructive.

First, the title of this blog is the link to the actual bill. All 1,017 pages of it. Knock yourself out. Second, if reading the entire thing seems to daunting, try reading the OpenCongress Summary. Third, rather than allowing news clips, debates, photos, and sound bites to sway your opinions, take a look at the GOP's plans for Health Care Reform. Fourth, check out The White House Reality Check and the CBO's Second Analysis of HR3200 And lastly, STOP listening, STOP watching, STOP reading anything else until you've reached your opinion on what plan seems best for your political ideologies.

And if you're too lazy to do any of that, then you shouldn't be calling anyone or attending anything.

As far as I'm concerned the two valid concerns with HR 3200 are about your ability to keep your current insurance plan, and cost. The truth in the first concern does not come out of misinformation, but directly from the Congressional Budget Office's FIRST (remember there is a SECOND) analysis of how the health care plan will payout in the long run (See page 4 specifically). In the long run, employers may or may not choose to continue to provide the same insurance they do now, thus the loss of your plan. However, it should be noted that even with the current system your employer could change your plan.

The second concern has yet to be adequately addressed by either side. Either way you slice it, this plan will cost a whole lot of money. To which I quote Economist EJ Dionne in his speech at Chautauqua Institution this summer, "The only time the congressional budget office cares about costs in when it's time to give health insurance to poor people" (I'm paraphrasing, it's been a few weeks now).

Ideally, America will join the rest of the industrialized countries in having Universal Health Care. For this to happen, we need people to be well informed and drop the illusion that this is something we can afford to split hairs over.