Having just created my first website on healthcare, I had no idea I first essay would be so political. Yesterday, Sunday, January 17, 2010 I attended the Scott Brown rally in Worcester Massachusetts. My curiosity in this special election has to do with the national focus on how this race will impact the Healthcare Reform bill in Washington, DC. It’s hard to believe that anyone in the nation is not aware of the significance of this election. If Scott Brown, the little known republican State Senator upsets Martha Coakley, Atty. Gen. of Massachusetts, it would surprise many insiders within the political elite circles. Massachusetts is the bluest of the blue states and this seat has been held by a Kennedy since 1952.
I believe the reason for Scott Brown success is twofold:
1.) Sen. Brown represents the people. He doesn’t come from the Washington DC elite. Yes I’ll admit he’s a lawyer and I wish that we’d have a few less lawyers in Congress, but he does seem to have a populist message… a genuine interest in helping the citizens of Massachusetts and stopping this attempt to take over one-sixths of the economy by the current administration at the federal level.
2.) Sen. Brown has more experience than most politicians in the healthcare reform issue
-
because Massachusetts has already adopted a state run health care system. This law was signed by former Governor, Romney and was initially very popular in the state. My understanding now is that most citizens, about 60% of Massachusetts voters, believe the state plan has cost more than expected and has not improve the quality of care for the citizens it intended to reach. This gives State Sen. Brown a unique perspective on what to do and what is needed to correctly reform healthcare. He understands that the system needs reform. He offered reasonable suggestions such as, tort reform to get the lawyers out of the medical practice. And insurance reforms such as allowing interstate selling of insurance across state lines to increase competition. He stated very clearly, he knows that this is a priority but a bad bill is worse than no bill.
He appears to be the perfect choice to replace the “lion of healthcare” Sen. Ted Kennedy and bring this national healthcare debate to a close in its current form. My hope is with his election and the election of other new voices that will come later in 2010 we will get the proper reforms in place to improve the healthcare benefits for all Americans both insured and uninsured. More importantly, I believe that this type of legislation belongs at the state level, not the federal. My understanding of the Constitution clearly defined which governing body, State or Federal, has the authority to govern such matters as healthcare and insurance. Since 1974, with the passage or the Employee Retirement Income and Security Act, (“ERISA”) we established the federal regulations for the self-insured plans. That supports the corporations that operate over multiple state locations. I’ll talk more about self-insured another day.
Today, like most Americans, I’m recognizing the holiday for Martin Luther King. I’m watching the news and headlines from Massachusetts and waiting to hear what the great citizens of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts say tomorrow as an outcome of the election. We have to believe and trust in the citizens of our country. They have the answers….they do the work…they were given the responsibility to run this republic. Hopefully, Washington DC and the leaders there are listening.
