EDITORIAL: Health-care bill must be passed now, not in 5 years: Our view

Mar 9, 2010 — The Arizona Daily Star

Mar. 9, 2010 (McClatchy-Tribune Regional News delivered by Newstex) -- Now is the time for Arizona's elected officials in Washington to do whatever is necessary to make sure that health-care reform becomes a reality. Not next year, not in five years, but now.

Now is the time for courage. Get it done.

We are appealing to U.S. Reps. Raul Grijalva and Gabrielle Giffords, both Dem-ocrats from Tucson, to remember that no bill is perfect. There will always be a reason to take the easier path and vote against changing the system -- especially in an election year.

And that is the choice: Elected officials can preserve the system that punishes people who have the bad luck of needing health care, or our representatives can do what is necessary to ensure that all Americans can see a doctor when necessary, purchase affordable health insurance and take care of themselves and their families.

We come to this debate weary -- sick of the lies about what is, and is not, in proposed legislation and the any-means-necessary effort to kill health-care reform. But, like the millions of Americans who know firsthand how crucial this reform is, we are not willing to give up. We call on Grijalva and Giffords to join us.

The House could consider adopting the bill the Senate passed as a way through the legislative log-jam that has blocked reform. While this is not our preferred option, it is increasingly clear that it is likely the only option.

Like Grijalva, we believe that a public option for health insurance is the best way to push profit-minded insurance companies to reduce costs and to cover the most people. But we are realists -- and we're not willing to scrap reform because the public option is no longer under consideration. Reform must start somewhere.

Giffords is running for re-election in the Republican-leaning Congressional District 8, and she has a record as a fiscally conservative Democrat. She has expressed concerns about the cost of proposed legislation, and she is correct to think about the big picture -- as long as the full big picture remains in view. Voting against health-care reform at this stage may not be the politically safe thing to do.

There is a cost to doing nothing. There is a monetary cost, and that will continue as long as Americans can be pushed into financial ruin by medical bills from one illness or accident. But there's also the moral and human cost a community pays when it continues to link wealth with health.

Protestations that Congress should scrap the reform package and "start over" ring false. There is no reason to believe that a do-over would accomplish anything other than create a political victory for Republicans trying to win back Congress. If health-care reform were the priority, then Republicans would be talking about ideas and specific policies instead of trying to shut it all down -- and, it bears noting, reform would have happened while the Republicans held both the White House and Congress.

During the health-care summit at Blair House recently, both Republicans and Democrats decried that people with pre-existing conditions are denied coverage or are priced out of insurance policies. It would seem they agree on this point, but the Republicans aren't talking about how to take a common goal and make it happen, the refrain is to stop the whole effort cold.

There is no reason to believe that a delay would create a better reform package, or do anything other than stop any change -- a result that would no doubt make some politicians and insurance companies quite happy.

So the question is this: Is something better than nothing? Our answer is, yes. Too many Americans are depending on their elected representatives to do what they can to get affordable health coverage within reach of all Americans.

Now is the time for courage. Get it done.

Arizona Daily Star

Contact U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords

Online: giffords.house.gov

By mail: 1661 N. Swan Road Suite 112, Tucson, AZ 85712

Phone: (520) 881-3588

Fax: (520) 322-9490

Contact U.S. Rep. Raul Grijalva

Online: grijalva.house.gov

By mail: 810 E. 22nd St. Suite 102 Tucson, AZ 85713

Phone: (520) 622-6788

Fax: (520) 622-0198

Newstex ID: KRTB-0014-42694180