IT’S A WONDERFUL
AFFORDABLE CARE ACT
The ACA is a sort of medical savings and loan. Rather than pay the exorbitant costs imposed by the insurance industry, we are supporting each other as a group and using our group strength to buy policies that support ourselves and our neighbors and keep health care costs lower. By E. Steinmetz Marmont
The concepts of the shared sacrifices of World War II, with its scrap metal drives, victory gardens, rationing stamps, and its emphasis on neighborliness are ideals that seem to be fading from the American consciousness. Neighbors shared both the costs and the benefits of their group efforts. We are the poorer for our fading memories. Pop the iconic classic It’s A Wonderful Life in your DVD drive and you can re-live the values Frank Capra captured in his story about a small town trying to save its only customer supported financial institution – the Bailey Building and Loan.
I remember my parents’ generation with pride. Many lived through the humbling poverty of the Great Depression. They counted on their neighbors when times were hard. Later, one of the impacts of World War II was that it leveled the social playing field and helped us again to appreciate our neighbor’s hard work and sacrifices. Another great film depicting the era titled The Best Years of Our Lives illustrates how a banker became a sergeant in the Army and a soda fountain attendant became a captain in the Air Force. They fought together for the mutual benefit of our country and came out of the war with a mutual respect and admiration for one another. That mutual respect impacted the banker’s vision of who his neighbors were and whether they were worthy and qualified for home loans. The movie reflects the current reality of VA home loans, the GI Bill and other opportunities created for the vast number of average people who contributed to the safety of their communities or fought and survived WW II.
We need to remember our mutual respect for and interdependence with our neighbors. The Affordable Care Act gives us the opportunity to once again support each other. Our country is plagued by the extreme costs of medical care and the dominance of the insurance industry. You might think of this dominance as a war of sorts, because there have been many casualties.
I remember when we (as a country) were studying the costs of this war on the uninsured and the under-insured waged by many in the insurance industry. Vice President Biden received thousands of messages from citizens who told of the tragedies – the casualties created by insurance companies that would not insure gravely ill men, women, and children. Many died. He heard from patients with cancer and other often catastrophic illnesses who were dropped from plans when they needed them most. These tragedies were taking place every day in every town across America. The conditions that created the need for the Affordable Care Act were brought about by an industry that was out of control and citizens who desperately needed health care. President Obama did not create the need for the ACA. He and other members of government merely responded to a public outcry that has been loud, long, and despairing.
Harkening back to the film It’s A Wonderful Life, you might think of the ACA is a sort of medical savings and loan – much like the Bailey Building and Loan. Rather than pay the exorbitant costs imposed by the insurance industry, we are supporting each other as a group and using our group strength to buy policies that support our neighbors and keep health care costs lower. Group efforts to build a stronger country are an American tradition.
For those of you who do not recall the film, the actor James Stewart plays George Bailey – a talented young man who was born and raised in the small town of Bedford Falls. George wants more than anything to travel and see the world – to build sky scrapers instead of residential homes. But when his father dies, saving the Bailey Building and Loan becomes George Bailey’s responsibility – even though he really does not want to stay in Bedford Falls. He knows that Henry F. Potter (supposedly the richest man in town) hopes to destroy the Building and Loan, and force the residents of Bedford Falls into his shabby, over-priced hovels. George argues to keep the Building and Loan open and out of Potter’s grasp. He tells the Board of Directors:
Well, I've said too much. I…You're the Board here. You do what you want with this thing. Just one thing more, though. This town needs this measly one-horse institution if only to have some place where people can come without crawling to Potter.
It’s not hard to draw an analogy between the greed of the un-regulated insurance industry and Henry F. Potter. Potter owns almost everything in Bedford Falls. In other words, he monopolizes most of the town’s business. He attempts to control all the prices. Most of the institutions in Bedford Falls are owned by Potter and the public pays the prices Mr. Potter dictates.
The Affordable Care Act provides us the opportunity to help ourselves and our neighbors and to avoid the costs of Potter-like health care plans. With the ACA we share the costs and the benefits of our plans and the prices we pay are not dictated to us by the Mr. Potters of the insurance marketplace.
When the depression arrives in Bedford Falls, people get scared. There is a run on the bank. The citizens of Bedford Falls are frightened and many are enticed by Henry Potter to accept fifty cents on the dollar during the run on the bank. They are tempted to withdraw their funds from the Building and Loan. Potter wants them to believe that if they don’t accept his monetary rates, they will have nothing. But George Bailey gets the members of the Building and Loan to hold out and to protect each other. He keeps the Building and Loan open and avoids a run on their little financial institution.
Similarly, some insurance companies are trying to frighten consumers right now – by cancelling familiar policies and substituting new policies at high rates. Some members of the public are tempted to latch on to what they are familiar with (the fifty cents on the dollar deal) rather than to take control of their health by supporting one another in purchasing lower cost, high quality health care through the ACA. Inadequate insurance is the devil they know.
George Bailey warns us about the Potters of the world as he tries to save the Bailey Building and Loan:
Joe, you lived in one of his houses, didn't you? Well, have you forgotten? Have you forgotten what he charged you for that broken-down shack?
(to Ed) Here, Ed. You know, you remember last year when things weren't going so well, and you couldn't make your payments. You didn't lose your house, did you? Do you think Potter would have let you keep it?
(turns to address the room again) Can't you understand what's happening here? Don't you see what's happening? Potter isn't selling. Potter's buying! And why? Because we're panicky and he's not.
That's why. He's picking up some bargains. Now, we can get through this thing all right. We've got to stick together, though. We've got to have faith in each other.
That’s what’s happening with this whole uproar about consumers losing their old insurance policies. Consumers panic when their insurance is cancelled. That’s exactly the reaction many insurance companies are looking for. Why? They want to scare you out of your independence from them because for years they created a Pottersville out of the insurance market. Too many have provided sub-standard insurance for a high price.
When consumers participate in the ACA, they help to eliminate this kind price gouging. One of the problems created by folks that want to keep their old policies is that by maintaining inadequate insurance they are also encouraging insurers who want to provide sub-standard insurance at a high price. In addition, they add to the central problem that has been damaging our economy. The problem is that when people buy inadequate insurance and then have a serious accident or experience a catastrophic illness not covered by their insurance, they pass those costs on to other consumers by impacting the prices we pay for medical care. The uninsured or poorly insured are costly. Their medical needs do not just go away, and illnesses that could have been treated in the early stages at a reasonable cost may skyrocket when they require emergency care. Additionally, many consumers have been thrown off of their coverage when they most needed the insurance to cover a catastrophic condition.
Here’s the other thing: many insurance companies WANT US TO PANIC when we see that our old policy has been cancelled. See, if you don’t panic, you are likely to find out that you can buy better quality health care at lower prices through the Affordable Health Care Act exchanges. You might learn that, as a consumer, you are not powerless to change the cost and the quality of your health care. Big insurance does not want you to know that. They want to keep you under their collective thumbs.
In the end George Bailey is able to save the Bailey Building and Loan by helping his customers to understand that they are powerful. Through their shared costs and benefits, the members of the Building and Loan build some of the “prettiest little homes” in Bedford Falls. Potter is not able to relegate them to shacks or force them out on the street if they don’t want to pay his high prices. So we can see that in the Bedford Falls scenario as well as our health insurance scenario, when we support each other we all benefit. Quality insurers are stepping up to the plate and providing coverage that meets consumer’s needs. The country is working together to keep insurance costs under control and keep our friends and neighbors healthy. We need to let the new system work.
When you think about the consumer power offered to you by the ACA, you come to see that it really is a wonderful opportunity to take control of your health care costs and benefits. There’s strength in sharing costs and benefits. We must move forward into a new era of health insurance – one that is governed by our determination to provide fair and cost-effective health care for all Americans. Yes, right now the web site is clunky and the roll-out has not been perfect. No great ideas are launched without effort, industry, and a few obstacles. Social Security faced obstacles and resistance when it was first implemented, but has allowed older Americans to retire with dignity and is a highly valued program. America has always moved forward and done great things by tapping the collective will, common sense, kindness, and hard work of its people. And as Franklin Roosevelt once said, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”
