Len Nichols, health policy analyst and director of the Center for Health Policy Research and Ethics at George Mason University, addressed University Law Students last Thursday night about successful health care reform. He suggested giving agency power to states and open discourse on the issue from a community level.
In his presentation, Nichols stressed the importance of open discussion on the issue. "If you think Washington can do this for us, you're sadly mistaken," Nichols said. "But what is true is if we don't figure out how to talk with each other about these issues, we're kind of in big trouble. Successful health reform is a participation sport."
Nichols described health care as a basic human right.
He used data from the Institute of Medicine to assert that 20,000 Americans die every year because of "lack of access to timely health care, which they would have had with normal health care insurance".
The health care debate began with President Bill Clinton in 1994, and during the last 17 years, more than "300,000 people have died while we waited to debate again," he said. Although hospitals tend to treat people who cannot afford to pay, "the uninsured don't often come until it's too late," he said.
Nichols said the most important numbers in the health reform debate are those that show the percentage of gross domestic product the public owes "to each other and the Chinese, compared to what we produce." This data shows that it will require 1 percent of GDP to cover all the uninsured, beyond the 30 million people covered in the recent bill.
"Can we afford this? No, we're broke," Nichols said. "But the question is, do we have to?"
He added that without government spending and taxes, there is little room for improvement in health care reform. "I'll tell you a secret: You can have whatever size government you want, but you have to pay for it," Nichols said.
Otherwise, Nichols believes the United States is doomed. "We face a threat to our existential way of life," he said.
Nichols said he believes the most important thing missing from the recent health care reform was bipartisan support, which he attributed to the "competing world views" of both parties. The opposition to the bill has very little to do with health care, and more to do with politics, Nichols said, adding that people are afraid of the role of the government. Other reasons for opposition include the idea that the "status quo is threatened by change" as well as unease caused by economic anxiety in these difficult times, he said.
To find solutions to the issue, Nichols suggests going back to history and the Constitutional Convention. The constitution was "written by elites behind closed doors" but was "debated state-by-state," he said, adding that this rebuilt trust throughout the public.
He continued to emphasize the importance of debate. "We have to debate this stuff," Nichols said, referring to the modern issue at hand. "Nobody figured out how to explain [health care reform] to people."
Nichols said the health reform debate should be led by states as well. In the commonwealth, Gov. Bob McDonnell created the Virginia Health Reform Initiative to explore the possibility of health care reform. Next year he will have to decide if the reform will happen in Virginia, Nichols said. "We need to force each state to have a serious conversation about what they want, like the debate over our Constitution."
Nichols then spoke about how the issue relates to Charlottesville. He suggested using Charlottesville to "prove what is possible" and to teach those who are not informed about the issue. "The only place in the U.S. right now where you can get away from the toxic politics that ruined Washington and messed up state capitals are in communities," Nichols said.
Nichols said the educated community is responsible for informing the rest of the public. "Improving the discourse is your responsibility," he said. "If you, the educated, don't do that, who's going to?"\nSecond-year Law student Frances McCorkle said the presentation was "refreshing because it had a lot of appeal to both sides." She said liberals would find it agreeable because Nichols discussed the formation of health care reform, and conservatives would agree to his "federalist ideal of giving power to the states."
McCorkle found the importance of personal responsibility to be Nichols' most memorable point. "I think it is true, especially in a university community and in academia, [that people] have to educate people that might not have access to the same information," she said.
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