Freeing Health Care

For the first time in most people’s memory, Republican politicians are being cheered by audiences other than doctors when they make speeches about health. More remarkable still, the applause is coming from elderly Americans. But the elderly are apoplectic about the Medicare catastrophic-illness tax enacted last year, and it’s Republicans who are leading the campaign for repeal. Suddenly they are saints. It’s a pleasant change for lawmakers used to being vilified for their “lack of concern” on health issues—that is, their unwillingness to vote for new spending programs.

But Republicans should contain their euphoria. Seniors now applauding them for voting to repeal the catastrophic-illness tax will soon be denouncing their new-found heroes if Republicans resist taxing someone else to pay for increased Medicare benefits. And there are plenty of other storms brewing. The Pepper Commission, named after the late Florida lawmaker who saw Congress as an open cash register for the elderly, is likely next year to propose a massive program to provide long-term nursing-home benefits to middle-class seniors. And then there’s Senator Ted Kennedy, pushing legislation to force business to pick up the tab for a national health system. Other lawmakers are looking at Canada as a health-care utopia and urging Congress to adopt a similar “free” tax-financed system (these same politicians used to point to Britain as the promised land until the National Health Service began to fall apart). Republicans trying to curb federal spending or improve American competitiveness will no doubt vote against such proposals. Then they will be denounced for their lack of compassion. Back to normal.

SM

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Stuart M. Butler

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For the first time in most people’s memory, Republican politicians are being cheered by audiences other than doctors when they make speeches about health. More remarkable still, the applause is coming from elderly Americans. But the elderly are apoplectic about the Medicare catastrophic-illness tax enacted last year, and it’s Republicans who are leading the campaign for repeal. Suddenly they are saints. It’s a pleasant change for lawmakers used to being vilified for their “lack of concern” on health issues—that is, their unwillingness to vote for new spending programs.

But Republicans should contain their euphoria. Seniors now applauding them for voting to repeal the catastrophic-illness tax will soon be denouncing their new-found heroes if Republicans resist taxing someone else to pay for increased Medicare benefits. And there are plenty of other storms brewing. The Pepper Commission, named after the late Florida lawmaker who saw Congress as an open cash register for the elderly, is likely next year to propose a massive program to provide long-term nursing-home benefits to middle-class seniors. And then there’s Senator Ted Kennedy, pushing legislation to force business to pick up the tab for a national health system. Other lawmakers are looking at Canada as a health-care utopia and urging Congress to adopt a similar “free” tax-financed system (these same politicians used to point to Britain as the promised land until the National Health Service began to fall apart). Republicans trying to curb federal spending or improve American competitiveness will no doubt vote against such proposals. Then they will be denounced for their lack of compassion. Back to normal.