Democrats Lead Health Care Reform Efforts

(The Daily Oklahoman, especially its top editor Ed Kelley, rants about Oklahoma's image issues, but its ultra-conservative editorial ideology continues to support freaky local politicians such as state Rep. Sally Kern (R-Oklahoma City), who is part of the gay-hating state Republican cabal that includes U.S. Senators Tom Coburn and Jim Inhofe. Here is a News 9 story about the legislator's most recent anti-gay remarks. Here is the audio file making its way around the Internet.)

Legislation dealing with health insurance mandates has emerged as a contentious political issue this year in Oklahoma.

So far those corporations who make profits on people’s pain and misery are the clear winners. The losers are people who find themselves in steep debt because of illnesses or find themselves without adequate health care or find themselves paying skyrocketing premiums.

The Oklahoma Senate failed to pass a measure Thursday that would require insurers to pay for medical care determined by health care professionals and also require them to cover medical costs related to autism, according to media reports. The Senate voted 24-19 to approve SB 2114, sponsored by Jim Wilson (D-Tahlequah), but the bill needed 25 votes to pass. The bill may be reconsidered later.

Meanwhile, the Oklahoma House, in a 53-46 vote, has passed a measure that would place some restrictions on health insurance mandates. It requires groups seeking health insurance mandates to provide reports on their financial and social impact, according to media reports. It also requires that “mandate legislation be filed only in odd-numbered years and voted on only in even-numbered years.” This would make passing such legislation cumbersome and difficult. The bill was authored by state Rep. Ron Peterson (R-Broken Arrow), who is against health insurance mandates.

Here is the real issue: Our health care system in this country is broken. People pay rising health insurance costs only to find out that in some cases their illness is not covered. Insurance companies and cost management companies deliberately work to find ways to deny sick people coverage. This corporate lack of basic humanity, this moral depravity, is notorious on a huge historical level, and Americans suffer every day because of it.

This election year, Democrats are leading the way with state legislation and proposals dealing with health care. Wilson’s bill is a step forward. State Sens. Andrew Rice (D-Oklahoma City) and Jay Paul Gumm (D-Durant) are also trying to get health insurance mandate legislation passed.

Both Democratic presidential candidates, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, have also made health care a major issue in their campaigns. The Republicans, meanwhile, are stuck in the past, parroting their old clichés and scare tactics about the dangers of universal health care and supporting a system that rewards the greedy and punishes the sick.

Our country’s citizens pay the most in health care and get the least for it when compared to other industrialized countries. Most European countries have public health care systems that work much better than our nation’s profit-centered system. Both occupied Iraq and Afghanistan have expanding health care systems funded by America’s taxpayers. Meanwhile, millions of Americans go without adequate health care.

The time has come for major change in our health care system. Health insurance and cost management companies will never become more responsive to people’s needs in the future without new laws and mandates. They will only become less responsive and charge more unless people finally stand up and demand change.