Why the Criticism of Democrats is Perverse

Posted by Sir Four at 11:54am Aug 12 '09
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Of the two major parties, the greater champions of the old and handicapped has always been the Democrats. It was the Democrats who created Social Security, for retirees and the disabled. It was the Democrats who created Medicare, which remains an extremely popular program. And fast-forward to 2009, you have angry mobs half-filled with retirees shouting against a government-run health insurance program.

And there are people like Gingrich, Palin, and numerous media personalities pushing the idea that Democrats want to kill off the old and disabled. Yet the ideology they support leads exactly to that outcome. Government created Medicare because retirees are uninsurable in the free market. You know who else are practically uninsurable? The disabled. It's called a pre-existing condition, and private insurance companies don't want to touch you.

So it's precisely the system that Palin defends which routinely denies coverage for disabled individuals like her son. When making a profit is of the highest priority, there is no way a private insurer will cover a Down Syndrome baby unless they are required to by government mandate.

Palin also said that the government plan would make determinations about coverage based on how productive the handicapped individual is in society. She completely made that up, of course, but she could have accurately portrayed the private market that way. A person who doesn't earn enough money to afford insurance can be said to be not a productive-enough member of society to receive healthcare. That's how it goes today.

Nothing could do more for the poor and the disabled than a reform that gets us closer to universal coverage. It is precisely that which would help those groups most that Palin et. al. are attacking. It's the old Karl Rove strategy of attacking your opponents on their strength. And the media does a poor job delving into these matters, choosing to report it as a he-said she-said.

Here is what one national Down Syndrome organization wants in healthcare reform:

• Universal access to health care insurance;
• Comprehensive coverage which cannot be denied because of health or disability status;
• No pre-existing condition exclusion or waiting persiods;
• Portability - one does not lose health insurance if one moves, changes jobs, or loses a position;
• Community rated premiums, that is, health plans must charge everyone the same rate, regardless of health or disability status;
• No lifetime caps on medically necessary and/or covered services;
• Choice of service provider and specialists who are appropriately trained and committed to meeting the medical needs of people with Down syndrome;
• Affordability.

Which party, Dems or Repubs, is more in-line with these goals?