| Earlier this week, a number of MA bloggers, including me, criticized MA-05 candidate Niki Tsongas for what seemed to us like a rather credulous, pat stance on how to solve the country's health care crisis: "free markets." I offered Mrs. Tsongas the opportunity to respond here, and I thank her for accepting it.
As to the substance of her post ... well, there really wasn't much. She correctly identifies the problem (47 million uninsured, more underinsured, high cost of coverage). But her proposed solution is not that of a leader who understands the issues at hand, but of a blind follower: Just do what Massachusetts did -- after all, it's good enough for Deval Patrick, Obama, and Edwards, and they're all good people.
Where does one begin to dig into this?
- Does Mrs. Tsongas think that the Massachusetts plan is scalable to the entire US?
- Does she understand that the Massachusetts law actually leaves many folks of moderate income still uninsured -- the very people who are at the most financial risk if they get sick?
- Does she understand that Massachusetts actually had it relatively easy, considering that we had relatively few people uninsured?
- Does she have a plan for controlling costs?
- Will she be willing to take on special interests who are making money hand over fist from the status quo? PhRMA, nursing homes, device makers, specialists ...
And on and on. I don't expect that Tsongas will have airtight answers to all these questions. The topic is complex. But MA-05 voters deserve to have a representative who has given it very serious thought. I'm not at all convinced that she has done so.
This is a problem for several reasons:
- There are roughly 47 million uninsured people in America, with easily the highest costs in the world -- some 16% of our GDP.
- Medicare and Medicaid take up a vast chunk of the federal budget, and as the baby boomers retire, that will only grow. These programs are subject to many of the same price pressures as the rest of our health care system. While Social Security is not actually in crisis, these programs certainly are.
- The winner of MA-05 is likely to be in office for many years to come. When this issue comes front- and center in the national attention -- which may already be happening -- Democrats in Congress need to be able to act boldly, courageously and nimbly to seize the moment.
I've sent invitations to Barry Finegold, Jamie Eldridge, and Eileen Donoghue to hold forth on health care. I hope Dick Howe is right -- that this is the hot issue of MA-05.
I don't like being disappointed in a Democratic candidate. But health care is a critical issue, and Tsongas has now had a couple of chances to define herself. She hasn't done so. |
