Health Reform Is Not The End

In today's Wall Street Journal, Op-Ed author Fred Barnes laments the imminent passage of health reform legislation led by President Obama (Slate's Timothy Noah and Chris Wilson give the bill a 75% chance of passage). Mr. Barnes even compares the dreaded event to Pearl Harbor. He bemoans increased government involvement in the health care sector and warns that passing the bill will only cause greater political infighting. Barnes thinks that this rancor will increase the number of critics for "ObamaCare" and lead to Congress overturning the legislation. While Mr. Barnes correctly assumes that passing President Obama's health reform package will result in continued debate, he overstates the likelihood of repeal. This is because he ignores the large populations of Americans that will appreciate the bill's outcomes.

Those that will appreciate ObamaCare include the millions of currently uninsured Americans. This population continues to grow as insurance costs climb. Justmeans Health blogger Sara Libby reported this morning that the number of Californians without health insurance has ballooned from 6.7 million to 8.2 million since 2007. Enacting health reform legislation will allow most of these uninsured Americans to gain coverage and they will resist repeal as they seek to avoid returning to the status quo. Others will join the rank of ObamaCare supporters when they find government involvement in health care less odious than advertised. Critics - like Mr. Barnes - often suggest that passage of the bill will cause the American health care to resemble the dreaded NHS in Britain. Yet UK health care is better according to many metrics, and government involvement in health care already works in the U.S. Veterans cared for by the VA and seniors that enjoy federally-subsidized Medicare benefits will attest to this. This group that will develop positive opinions of ObamaCare might currently doubt the President's plans but they will resist repeal in the long term.

Passing ObamaCare will not resolve the problems in American health care. Increasing the number of Americans with insurance will only tangentially address other problems related to increasing costs of care and uneven quality. Although critics will remain and political disputes will continue, policymakers striving for greater government involvement in the health sector are doing good work. The millions of Americans who stand to gain coverage under the President's plan hold this view. And the President might win converts after the legislation passes. These advocates will voice their appreciation for the government's involvement in health care at the polls. If the bill passes (and this remains a big IF) these advocates will stand in the way of repeal.

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