The President Elect Faces Hard Work On Health Care

So history has now been made. On January 20, 2009, our 44th President will take his place as Commander-in-Chief. That man will be Barack Obama. With the vast majority of health care organizations backing his plan, and a seeming mandate from the people, he should be in a position to rapidly enact change, correct? Well.....no. Not really.

You see, like everything in life, health care reform is going to cost. With $700 billion recently allocated to the financial bailout, I would be willing to wager that purse strings are going to be a bit tight. Then you add in the $455 billion budget deficit. To be blunt, I think it could be a fight for every penny. Of course, the one thing that is a huge variable, as his winning campaign has shown all along, is President Elect Obama's seeming mandate from the people. How much leverage will that give him with Congress?

Maggie Fox, Health and Science Editor over at Reuters shares some optimism from the Senate floor:

But Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid predicted the momentum for change would be there. "We have no alternative," Reid told National Public Radio on Wednesday morning. "A wave of hope has swept the country."

Reid said Republicans would not dare to block legislation, given Tuesday's voter mandate.

The next few months are going to be very interesting....

SOURCE: "ANALYSIS-Even with mandate, Obama faces health care pain" 11/05/08
photo courtesy of EricaJoy, used under its Creative Commons license

Union Says McCain Approach to Health Care is Wrong

Market Watch ran an interesting press release last Wednesday concerning Senator McCain's proposed idea of distributing health vouchers to American military veterans at private, for profit providers. This is a move viewed by many as the beginning of a dismantling process for the Veterans Health Administration (VHA).

Via Market Watch:

This week, the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) launched a nationwide radio ad campaign raising serious concerns about Senator McCain's commitment to veterans' health care. In addition to the radio ads, AFGE, which represents employees in the Department of Veterans Affairs, launched a Web site, www.fundtheva.com, and a series of YouTube ads featuring union veterans voicing their concerns about McCain's controversial veterans health care platform.

The AFGE is not being bashful about their views. Not only that, but they are also being quite strategic in how they express them. Radio has a phenomenal reach, not having to concern itself with the digital divide it extends into houses, work sites, and the autos of commuters across the nation. YouTube also boasts an incredible reach, as has been proved repeatedly in the early months of campaigning this year. Between the two, the AFGE will be able to spread their message far and wide.

Here is an example of one of the YouTube ads:


Over the next several months we will be seeing an amazing array of reports, studies, propaganda, and spin concerning health care as the competition for President heats up prior to election day. Here on Health Care Reform Now! we will try to keep you abreast of developments as they happen.

SOURCE: "Union Representing VA Workers Launch Nationwide Radio Campaign, Web Site and Viral Videos for Full VA Funding" 07/09/08
photo courtesy of DOD Via PingNews, used under its Creative Commons license