HEALTH REFORM: A Presidential Call to Action

Yesterday, President Barack Obama made a down payment on health reform signing the SCHIP law that extends and expands coverage for low-income children. Today, he makes a pitch for the next installment.

In a call to action in an op-ed in today's Washington Post, Obama outlines how the proposed economic recovery package is a not just a burst of short-term spending but a "strategy for America's long-term growth." Health care figures prominently. He writes:

In recent days, there have been misguided criticisms of this plan that echo the failed theories that helped lead us into this crisis—the notion that tax cuts alone will solve all our problems; that we can meet our enormous tests with half-steps and piecemeal measures; that we can ignore fundamental challenges such as energy independence and the high cost of health care and still expect our economy and our country to thrive. [...]

Every day, our economy gets sicker—and the time for a remedy that puts Americans back to work, jump-starts our economy and invests in lasting growth is now.

Now is the time to protect health insurance for the more than 8 million Americans at risk of losing their coverage and to computerize the health-care records of every American within five years, saving billions of dollars and countless lives in the process.

Fix the economy or fix health care? President Obama's op-ed shows he rejects the false choices of such a dichotomy. The problems of health care and the economy are closely related. So are their solutions. We cannot put off health reform until we "fix" the economy, because we cannot fix the economy without reforming health care.

Yesterday's reauthorization of SCHIP is an important first step. Dedicating part of the stimulus package to health care can not only spur job-creation and economic activity in the short term, it can lay the foundation for health reform. Incorporating these intitial investments into broader reform is necessary for realizing their long-term potential to lower unsustainable costs, improve care and save lives.

The President writes: "What Americans expect from Washington is action that matches the urgency they feel in their daily lives..." With medical costs contributing to half of all bankruptcies and many home foreclosures, millions of Americans feel that sense of urgency manifested in health care. As the economy worsens, the number of concerned Americans grows. They've made the call for health reform loud and clear—it started with the election and it continues today. It's time to answer.