By Bart King
The stimulus package signed into law on Tuesday by President Obama was created in an effort to juice the stalled economy and reverse the growing unemployment rate in America. However, lost jobs—particularly in the middle class—would be a crisis of lesser size, if healthcare were affordable to individuals.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad the new legislation prioritizes job creation through renewable energy, public transportation, energy efficiency and other green initiatives. But a wider view of the nation’s sustainability—the “triple bottom line” of not only environmental needs, but also the needs of the economy and society—reveals the health care situation is nearly as burdensome as our dependence on fossil fuels.
An entrepreneurial spirit is arguably the greatest and most defining characteristic of American culture. I’d be willing to bet three out of five American adults (and maybe kids, too) have a business idea that incorporates some aspect of their personal interests or experiences. But this ingenuity is suppressed, to the detriment of the nation’s economic and societal potential, by a fear of inflated healthcare costs.
Many skilled workers with a severance package in hand would likely take the opportunity to pursue the dream of self-employment. Except in doing so, they must either risk the health of their families by going without insurance, or pay exorbitant premiums that can easily eclipse $1,000 a month. As a result, many will continue to search for any job with decent benefits, instead of creating the jobs they want or filling needs they recognize.
As a freelance writer, I’m beginning to see a growing demand for independently produced content, as newspapers and magazines lay off staffers in an effort to reduce costs. I imagine other industries are in the same situation, and could continue to pay for work without the added weight of benefits—health insurance being the most onerous. Ultimately many previously insured workers will take this freelance work, rather than go without, but they will add to ranks of 46 million uninsured Americans.
I’m not suggesting the federal government should pick up the cost of healthcare—though I’m not against the idea, if it works—but it is time for lawmakers to take responsibility for reforming the system, so that individuals and small businesses can acquire health insurance or healthcare at a fair price.
I’m fortunate enough to have good health insurance, because my wife is a teacher in the local school district. Otherwise I could not have afforded the surgery last November to replace two ligaments in my ankle (My soccer-playing days may be limited). I could have scraped up the $3,500 my health insurance negotiated to pay for the procedure, but not the $11,000 the surgeon actually billed.
I can only assume the true cost is somewhere in the middle, and finding it needs to be the first step in reform, so that insurance companies with the negotiating weight of large corporate or municipal clients aren’t allowed to undercut healthcare providers, which indirectly drives up the cost of private healthcare and Medicaid.
Two measures in the stimulus package aim to pinpoint healthcare costs. The first provides $19 billion to increase the use of information technology in the industry, an initiative that is expected to improve transparency and efficiency, while lowering costs. The other gives $1 billion to government research comparing the effectiveness of medical procedures, pharmaceuticals and devices in an attempt to reign in costs.
Unfortunately the rest of the $147 billion committed to healthcare is needed primarily to prop up the existing system in the short term. But maybe this will provide the impetus needed to get lawmakers moving on this critical issue. Reports suggest the Obama administration is preparing to lead Congress back into these waters, but it’s likely to be another divisive battle depicted as a choice between socialism and free-market capitalism.
I suggest that lawmakers give up their own health insurance before drawing a line in the sand. Maybe then we’ll get a compromise that fulfills our social and economic imperatives.
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Bart King is News Editor of SustainableBusiness.com. This column is available for syndication.
Contact bart@sustainablebusiness.com.
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