Action Left

If progressive Democrats kill health care reform because its not good enough, what will happen? Nothing. Nothing new, that is. People like me will continue to be denied coverage because of a pre-existing condition. Millions of Americans will continue to remain uninsured because they cannot afford the premiums. No one but lobbyists and corporate-owned politicians will benefit from maintaining the status quo and insurance companies will maintain their stranglehold on the American public and our economy.

If progressive Democrats suck it up and pass the best bill possible given the circumstances, what will happen? The insurance companies will still make billions of dollars and continue to obstruct the development of a truly equitable and effective health care system. But people who have previously been denied coverage will now be able to get health insurance. And some people who cannot currently afford health insurance premiums will receive subsidies to help them afford it.

As Paul Krugman says:

But let’s all take a deep breath, and consider just how much good this bill would do, if passed — and how much better it would be than anything that seemed possible just a few years ago. With all its flaws, the Senate health bill would be the biggest expansion of the social safety net since Medicare, greatly improving the lives of millions. Getting this bill would be much, much better than watching health care reform fail.

“Greatly improving the lives of millions.” Some lives will be saved.

Lives will still be lost, many because this bill is imperfect. It excludes undocumented immigrants, attacks abortion rights and doesn’t really address the fundamental flaws in our health care system. As long as the financial might of the insurance lobby continues to exert such tremendous influence on our political process, our health insurance system will be woefully inadequate.

This reality is devastating, and we must work to change it as vigorously and efficiently as possible. But we can’t let ideology trump our commitment to preserving the dignity and worth of human life. And in this case, this means supporting health care reform that, while imperfect, is the greatest leap towards universal health care in this country in decades. Nate Silver points out:

…Fundamental reform like single-payer or Wyden-Bennett was never really on the table. The bill comes very close, indeed, to establishing what might be thought of as a right to access to health care: once it’s been determined that people with pre-existing conditions cannot be denied health care coverage, and that working class people ought to receive assistance so that they can afford health care coverage, it will be very hard to remove those benefits. It’s the sort of opportunity that comes around rarely — and one that liberals will greatly regret if they turn down.

The path towards fixing a system as broken as America’s health care system is not a short, straightforward march to victory and a happy ending. We have been operating for decades on a failed system that will take years to fix. This was just round one.

But it is a victory. A victory that can be used as momentum to further victories on issues like green jobs and comprehensive immigration reform. Afterall, health care is one battle in a Presidency and a movement that have only just begun.