Washblog

Reichert adequately addressed the talking points of personal choice and decisions being made by doctors and patients, but offered no specifics on how to do this. He noted that he has introduced a Health IT bill, but never offered on how his bill will help things. He talked about the cost savings effects of tax cuts, but gave no indication that he has any understanding how this happens. He talked of ensuring a safety net for the uninsured, but never addressed the problem of the underinsured. The highlight for the Republican Congressman came as he tied the recent $700 billion bailout into Medicare issue, "Now how are you going to continue to bailout Wall Street fat cats and continue to provide those (Medicare) services."

Darcy Burner, on the other hand, commanded the health care issue. She got it. The challenger demonstrated an understanding that the health care problem is a middle class issue as they are being squeezed by increasing premiums, deductibles, co-pays, and prescriptions. "The system isn't just broken for the people that don't have health insurance, it's broken for the people that do have health insurance."

Burner railed against insurance company profits that literally come at the expense of middle class. She called for greater insurance company regulation to ensure that these corporations pay for preventive services instead of just encouraging people to wait until they needed to go to the emergency room.

The most impressive aspect of Darcy Burner's presentation on health care, however, was her understanding that the real issue is health and not health care. She connected the dots:

In terms of Medicare and Medicaid costs, these are obviously related to the bigger problems that we have with the health care system. Right now because insurance companies are not paying for routine or preventative health care when people are younger, we have about half of all of the dollars spent on Medicare, spent treating the complications of type 2 diabetes, which could have been avoided.

We need more politicians in both Washington's that understand that health care is not just about where the dollars go and who gets the tax cuts. We need more like Darcy Burner who understand that the health care "system" as a whole is broken. We need someone who is willing to look at how we organize and design our system to promote health and care for those who are ill. We need someone like Darcy Burner who will not just concern herself with the health care system, but who will strive to improve our health.