healthcare
Health care reform in the balance
The margins are so tight that a single vote could decide it, here or there. The number of formally undecided Democrats is dwindling by the hour, but still, no-one can be certain if the legislation will pass.
A bipartisan show of hands
For seven hours, Democrats and Republicans maintained the pretence of bipartisanship, knowing full well that agreement is impossible. President Obama was determined to show that he is taking the opposition’s ideas seriously. His opponents were keen to demonstrate that they could be reasonable. No amount of platitudes could disguise how entrenched their positions have become.
Condition: Critical
Private healthcare’s failings affect everyone but the most privileged, whether through rising premiums, diminishing coverage, depressed wages or the financial catastrophe that often follows a serious illness or injury. Employers have seen medical bills rise 119% in a decade, to the point where the average employee costs $13,000 to insure each year. Workers pay around 30% of these premiums themselves, if they’re lucky. In the last two years, 60 million people have been without insurance.
Universal healthcare on the brink
The phrase “socialized medicine” was coined by the American Medical Association in 1945, to derail Harry Truman’s welfare programme. It is no longer the bogeyman it used to be. In a recent New York Times/CBS poll 85% of respondents said that the USA’s healthcare system needs to be fundamentally changed or completely rebuilt. 72% backed a public insurance plan.
Daschle embarrasses Obama
After a week in which his legislative agenda came under sustained attack from both sides, the President will be content to see his stimulus bill scrape through, diminished and shop-worn, by the narrowest possible margin.
