The symbolic vote to repeal last year’s health care bill came off as scheduled Wednesday, fulfilling what Republicans feel was a central promise made to voters in November.
As predicted, Democrats got another shellacking in the final tally, 245-189, with three Democrats crossing the aisle to support repeal.
And, as predicted, the vote will now disappear as a historical footnote when the Senate refuses to bring it forward for a vote.
What now?
Republicans plan to stop or slow down implementation of the reforms and conduct as many investigations as possible to make Democrats look as bad as possible before the next election.
Which, of course, does nothing to solve any of the serious health care problems we face right now.
If “ObamaCare” is bad, what the American people really need from House Republicans is something better.
If there is anything “job-killing” about health care, it’s the system we have now.
Employers are increasingly unable to keep up with the cost of medical care, plus the pass-along costs of treating the uninsured.
How do we fix that?
Health care is now 17 percent of gross domestic product and, at the current rate of growth, will be 20 percent by 2019. By then, one of five dollars in our economy will be spent on health care.
How do we fix that?
People with pre-existing conditions are afraid to leave their jobs, lose their jobs or try other careers because they will likely be uninsurable.
How do we fix that?
People without insurance, and even those with insurance, live in fear of being bankrupted by a severe illness.
How do we fix that?
Medicare and Medicaid expenses are growing so quickly that they will eventually dominate the federal budget.
How do we fix that?
The political gridlock on this issue is particularly frustrating, given that other nations have learned how to curb costs and provide better results.
Health care is 17 percent of GDP here. The average for other industrialized countries is about 9 percent.
We spend $7,290 per person on health care, compared with an average of $2,964 for other industrialized countries. The second-highest country, Norway, spends $4,763.
What’s more, our health care results are not very good by a variety of measures. Physicians per capita, life expectancy, infant mortality, hospital beds per capita — we lag behind other nations who have managed to insure all of their people.
The system isn’t working, we aren’t getting our money’s worth and it is unsustainable in the long term.
Democrats took their shot at fixing these problems. Maybe they didn’t get it right, but at least they tried.
Attacking the other guy’s plan is easy compared to solving the problems.
If Republicans hope to gain power in 2012, it’s time to stop shouting from the sidelines and come up with a better plan.
If ObamaCare isn’t “change we can believe in,” give us something we can.
editorialboard@sunjournal.com
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