Watered down legislation confusing for consumers

While Democrats were patting themselves on the back and Republicans were crying foul this week over the expected passage of health-insurance reform legislation, neither side of the aisle has been very effective at doing anything but leaving ordinary folks confused. Maybe it’s our collectively short attention span that limits our understanding, but has anyone noticed that clear summaries of the legislation only seemed to start trickling out this week?

After weeks and months of political back-room dealing, Senate Democrats managed to break a Republican-led filibuster in the wee hours of Sunday morning, Dec. 20. Experts predicted final legislation would pass Christmas Eve but did not explain the unusual deadline, or the need for further delay. Meanwhile, no one really knows what went on in the back rooms, where Sen. Harry Reid assembled 383 pages of amendments to the Senate Health Care Bill.

What senators did finally explain was that small businesses will receive tax credits for providing health insurance to employees, the Medicare “donut hole� will be closed, insurance will be mandatory but may not cost more than 9 percent of your salary and an insurance pool will be created to assist Americans who still can’t afford their premiums.

If viewed as a first step toward revolutionary reform, the final bill can be seen as an important start. At its core, the legislation recognizes that Americans are being bankrupted by insurance companies and that limits must be placed on fee increases, denials and recissions of insurance policies. The playing field needs to be leveled to make health care fairer for the consumer.

Those who bark that this amounts to a socialist takeover of the United States are either ignorant or preaching to the ignorant. Oddly enough, those opposing the legislation have exerted the most last-minute influence on it, taking the most sweeping reforms out of the bill. If anything, members of the right wing should be claiming victory.

With the elimination of a strong public option — thanks in great part to Connecticut Sen. Joseph Lieberman — and the scrapping of a plan to expand Medicare, the final legislation will be a watered down version of President Barack Obama’s vision of affordable health care for all.

At the very least, President Obama can claim he asked for health-care legislation by the end of the year and that he got it. The final product may not amount to a giant leap forward, but it thankfully brings a confusing and polarizing debate to an end.