Recently, the media has been full of the "town meetings" that congressional representatives have been participating in for the purpose of discussing health care reform. Instead of disseminating much-needed information on the subject, these meetings have mostly been free-for-all shout-fests in which citizens deride their congresspeople for attempting to "bankrupt the country", foster a "government takeover of health care", and create "death panels" with the proposed reforms. Lawmakers have faced hostile crowds that burn them in effigy, equate President Obama with Hitler and, outside a public forum in Connecticut, loudly suggest that Christopher Dodd take a "handful of painkillers" with a whiskey chaser to treat his prostate cancer. Nice. All because this administration is trying to come up with an alternative to the current health insurance status quo.
I've noticed something about the people who attend these meetings: they are, for the most part, older. By "older", I mean that they are Medicare recipients. Is it possible that they do not know this? If they do, do they not know that Medicare, in fact, is a government-sponsored, single-payer insurance plan? That seems unlikely. What then, is the genesis of their battle cry, "Keep government hands off of my health care"? How can the government stay out of a plan that they administer? Additionally, Medicare is not a choice; if you are 65 years of age, you participate, period. As far as I know, the current reforms have never required anyone to segue onto the public option insurance, if it ever comes to pass.
Of course, if these persons are so fond of the Medicare program that they shout down any suggestion of change, then why wouldn't they want the same for their children, and their grandchildren? Another question is why each forum seems dominated by the elderly. Are these meeting being held during the day, when only retired people can attend? Or has there been some quiet organizing going on, by parties unknown? I really don't understand why these people are so intent upon derailing this issue, since it doesn't affect them directly. Not that there is anything wrong with voicing your opinion about current events, whether they touch your life or not. However, the vitriol being aired suggests that Obama is considering outlawing the Early Bird Special, rather than trying to make health care affordable for working-age people.
Now, I am of the opinion that, after 65 or more years on the planet, one should be able to discern truth from lies better than, say, an 18-year-old with much less life experience. Ellen Goodman, in a recent editorial, has shed a little light on why elders are behaving this way. I have always liked Goodman, who seems able to tell it like it is without being nasty or insulting. She points out that the senior contingent was the only group not supportive of Obama's presidency. Knowing that, Republicans have been courting them in an effort to overturn this latest attempt at reform. A Republican-sponsored "Seniors' Health Care Bill of Rights" is feeding this frenzy, inferring that the reforms on the table would provide health care for everyone younger than 65 only at a cost to Medicare. Sure, Medicare reforms are also underway, the most positive of which entail closing the costly "doughnut hole" in drug coverage. There are no plans to ration coverage of any kind for older folks, or to force life-or-death choices on the frail. These inferences are just untrue.
So, to older Americans, I say: Please be a driving force for Medicare reform. You know better than the rest of us what works and what doesn't in that program, and your voices should be heard. But, please, please don't use your collective power to deny better health care delivery to those younger than you. Your grandchildren will thank you for it.
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