Health Insurance Wars Ready to Break Out: Let the Facts Win Out
by Steve Young

Steve Young

April 3, 2006 /HOLLYWOOD (apj.us)/ How odd it is for a war to break out when everyone belongs on the same side. But one such skirmish is about to explode in California.

This past Saturday night, politicos, entertainers, healthcare advocates, on all sides of the political spectrum, got together in an overflow HealthCareForAll.org event in Burbank, CA, to kick-off an effort to educate the public to what Universal Healthcare Insurance would actually mean for California.

It was meant as a fun evening - with Lily Tomlin headlining, how could it be anything else. But how odd it was to see liberals and conservatives, old and young, rich and poor, all landing on the same side of an issue.

Universal Healthcare Insurance under Senate Bill (SB840), shouldered by State Senator Sheila Kuehl, is meant to be a single payer system that has no preexisting exemptions, no deductibles and no copay. That means that everyone, no matter their medical condition, no matter their financial standing, will be covered Who could be against that?

Virtually no one, except for those affiliated with the health insurance industry who stand to lose out if they are no longer the middleman between the public and proper healthcare.

Step one of SB840 - how the coverage will be administered - has passed both Houses of the California legislature. Now, the hard part; itemizing how the program will be funded. And when it does, it must show itself to be more cost efficient than the present system that continues to cover less while costing more.
The war is about to begin in earnest. The public vs. the insurance industry. Proper healthcare for all vs. insurance profits. Fact vs. Fabrication. And it won't just be in California, because if it succeeds
on the West Coast, so it will be copied through the country.

And the next sound you hear will be the insurance companies and their allies rolling out the usual scare-tactic buzz phrases.

• Socialism!
• Government operated!
• Small businesses will have to shut down!
• Large corporations will have to cut back!
• You'll lose your family doctor!
• Mediocre healthcare!
• No choice!
• Long lines!
• One word: Canada

Problem with every one of those fear-inducing caveats: NONE OF THEM ARE TRUE. But the deep pockets that be affected, political and corporate, nonetheless, will begin an elaborate and costly campaign to spin the facts to say they are.

In actuality, nearly everyone will benefit. We're talking about children and the elderly, Democrats and Republicans, rich and poor, business - small and large. Healthy workers mean more and higher quality output. Healthy children mean a more healthy future for the country.

Here's hoping that the possibility of proper healthcare for ALL Americans will transcend political divisions and that those in the media - including those behind the talk show mikes, who are looking out for the folks - will hammer BOTH Universal Healthcare Insurance advocates AND those in the insurance lobby, until they get the real answers; not just empty sound bites that are extremely unhealthy for children and living things.

This is far too important to accept anything less.

Disclaimer: Steve Young wrote much of the performers' material for the Burbank event, but not in an Armstrong Williams type of way.

Steve Young is a Senior Fellow at the Extreme Far Centrist Foundation' Political Husbandry Conservation Centre and Stereo Repair. In his spare time, he is also an author, comedy writer, columnist, LA talk show host and author of "Great Failures of the Extremely Successful."(What? You STILL haven't bought it? Then visit http://www.greatfailure.com/). You can also check out the satirical side of Steve every Sunday in the LA Daily News.