Young Women Misbehavin'

I love when politicians use the line “that’s what the American people want”.  As if they have the ability to broad brush all 300 million people in this country and assert that every single one of us want exactly the same thing.  I keep hearing that phrase said over and over, and every time I cringe.  It must be an amazing ability to cookie cutter the entire population, and healthcare reform has certainly been the issue to embolden this claim. 

Those opposed to healthcare reform would love it if we started over and scrapped over a year of work.  Because well, “that’s what the American people want”.  It’s a great sound bite, but also bold and out of touch.  And replace it with what? 

The opposition’s ideas, as shown at the President’s healthcare summit, lack clarity on how they would approach some of the most important aspects of the legislation such as ridding pre-existing conditions that make people uninsurable.  As stated by Representative Alexander about the issue, “House Republicans have some ideas about how my friend in Tullahoma can continue to afford insurance for his wife who has had breast cancer.” Yet didn’t elaborate on what those ideas might be.
 
The upcoming weeks are going to be a test on whether Congress can get the job done, and the leaders on the front line will be female Members of Congress.  Many of them hold a lot influence and could be the defining vote on the outcome.  For example, Senator Snowe of Maine has been a thoughtful and powerful voice throughout the debate and her moderate stance could sway the outcome either way.  My own Senator, Senator Landrieu, is known to be a centrist and her vote will also be crucial. And of course there’s the most powerful woman of them all, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who will have to use her power of persuasion to secure the necessary votes to pass a bill. 
 
I would be deeply disappointed if Congress is unable to pass meaningful healthcare reform legislation because the time is now to get this done.  If it falls through the cracks I suspect it will be years until another President will gamble enough to take this issue on again.  While ideally a comprehensive bill is preferred, I would rather them pass the main issues on which everyone agrees on than nothing at all.

The potential that this could be a missed opportunity would be detrimental for years to come and will hamper our nation’s ability to come out of this deep recession.  Families will be unable to afford the increasing costs of daily life if healthcare costs are not contained.  Women will especially suffer as they will continue to face disproportionate higher costs only because of their gender, and be denied insurance altogether due to preexisting conditions. 

What this American wants is action before it’s too late.