Health Care after COVID19
The
fall Democratic primary campaign was consumed by debate about health
care, and specifically, Medicare for All. With the onslaught of
COVID19, that debate has raised new
questions. The weaknesses of the American system of health insurance
tied to employment are vividly exposed. 17 million Americans, and
counting, have applied for unemployment benefit relief, but how many of
them will lose the health insurance offered by
their employers? How many, in these circumstances, can afford the cost
of COBRA, which allows them to buy into their plan for 18 months at
full premium cost? How many will qualify for Medicaid, whose
requirements vary widely in different states, and how
many of them live in one of the 14 states that did not expand Medicaid
eligibility and benefits as part of the Affordable Care Act? The
answers for millions will be, Out of Luck.
Opponents
of Medicare for All claim that most Americans like the health insurance
they currently get from their employers. Of what use is that insurance
when either financial
and market collapse or catastrophic viruses wipe out jobs, industries,
governments?
Maybe
America, staring at the prospects of future pandemics, might use this
moment to separate health care from employment and find a new path
forward, whether through single
payer or hybrid systems of public and private insurance. The bottom
line will be this: how many of us, after this pandemic subsides, will
demand that the country act on the proposition that health care for all
residents is a human right?
Publishing history:
Shawangunk Journal,
New Paltz Times 4/16/20
Times Herald-Record 4/13/20
No comments:
Post a Comment