- Jack Bernard was the first director of health planning for Georgia. As a corporate executive with health care corporations, he did planning and/or cost control for several hospitals in Tennessee.
The GOP has taken over the US House.
In rural Tennessee, 16% of Tennesseans 18-64 are uninsured, with no healthcare coverage.
So, what can we expect from him regarding healthcare, a major issue for this county? From their own policy statements – nothing, as I describe below.
The French health care system, widely regarded as the best in the world, is basically universal Medicare, with supplemental insurance for dental, vision, etc.
The French system costs less than half as much per capita ($5,564) as ours does ($11,945). Also, the French are relatively happy with their health care system while we are not.
But here, the leadership didn’t have the power that was needed to unilaterally pass something similar that conservative Democrats/independents have on the money of lobbyists.
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Republicans have no alternative to Obamacare
Change of house will worsen the situation.
The Republican Party opposes real health care reform, although in 2000, Donald Trump once said he supported a single-payer system, similar to Medicare for All.
When Obama proposed healthcare reform in 2008, I correctly predicted that it would pass Congress, but fall short.
The Democrats didn’t get the support of the GOP.
So, he passed something (ACA, Obamacare), claimed victory, and blamed Republicans for inaction. Single payer covering all would have been a better solution. But GOP support would have been needed, as was true when Medicare was passed in the ’60s. Therefore, Medicare for All was not proposed by Obama.
A single-payer health care system will never be seriously considered by a center-right Senate (conservative Republicans, Democrats, independents) and a GOP controlled House.
35 million people have got insurance under Obamacare. But 34% of working-age adults still have insufficient insurance.
And 30 million Americans (11%) have no coverage.
That includes many in 11 GOP-controlled states like Tennessee that decided not to expand Medicaid—even though the feds pay 90% of the cost.
Tennessee ranks among the 15 worst states in the US with respect to the uninsured rate in non-metro areas (16.3%).
And for-profit insurance companies will continue to find ways to reduce their risk by turning off sicker patients and charging the government more through Medicare Advantage for seniors. This is how they make money and pay their CEO a seven figure salary.
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Health care reform will benefit Democrats in 2024
Let’s go back to the GOP, which hasn’t proposed any real reform in decades. The new House is focusing on healthcare reform Hunter Biden Vs.
For example, here’s what the recently released GOP “Commitment to America” plan says on health care:
- Achieve Longer, Healthier Lives for Americans
- Personalize care to provide affordable options and superior quality, delivered by trusted doctors
- Lower costs through transparency, choice and competition, invest in lifesaving treatments and improve access to telemedicine.
In other words, the GOP provides incomprehensible gobbledygook. American voters must realize that they advocate doing nothing.
The American public knows that major healthcare reform is needed. And that the Democrats are the only party with viable ideas. Like it or not, healthcare reform (including cost control) is good for the country. And the GOP should finally support a greater role for government in health insurance. Otherwise, health care will continue to be used as a stick against them in elections, just as Republicans use culture war values issues like “religious liberty” against Democrats.
The bottom line is that by opposing true reform now, the Republican Party stands to lose more broadly over the long term. The only question is when in the upcoming 2024 elections in Tennessee and across the US will Democrats refine their messaging to adequately explain and advance this important issue
Jack Bernard was the first director of health planning for Georgia. As a corporate executive with health care corporations, he did planning and/or cost control for several hospitals in Tennessee.