Serving the Flathead Valley & Montana since 2006. A reality based independent journal of observation & analysis. © James Conner.

 

19 November 2013

Memo to John Walsh: lash yourself to the mast & stay the course

walsh_75hh-copy

Add John Walsh’s name to the list of wobbly Democrats who need to lash themselves to the mast and stay the course on the Affordable Care Act. Walsh, report The Hill and Talking Points Memo, endorsed Sen. Mary Landrieu’s (D-LA) bill to let people keep substandard insurance policies:

In Montana, Democratic candidate Lt. Gov John Walsh, through a spokesman, has said that the Obamacare rollout was “disastrous” and has called for Congress to “insurance companies accountable.” His campaign has also argued that the Obama administration hasn’t taken enough steps to fix the problems with the health care law. Walsh has embraced a proposal by Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA), another Democrat in a 2014 Senate race, which would require insurers to maintain plans for current policy holders. [TPM]

Retreating to Panderville legitimizes the complaint that canceling substandard policies is unwise and unfair. Yes, a certain unpleasantness attends cancellation — but greater unpleasantness, including bankruptcy, awaits holders of substandard insurance who become ill and discover that their policies offer less protection than a diaphanous fig leaf. Protecting Americans from that kind of insurance is the point of the ACA, and Democrats must say so — loudly, clearly, repeatedly, and with conviction.

Democrats must also hammer home these points:

  1. All American have a right to health care — and not just any kind of health care, but the best health care science can provide.

  2. Americans have a right to health insurance that protects them from medical bankruptcy.

  3. Avoid the trap of conflating administrative debacles with policy failures.

  4. The ACA, for all its shortcomings, is a quantum improvement over the no-pre-existing-conditions-covered system the ACA replaces.

Flathead Memo hammers home these points to Democrats:

  1. Voters admire candidates who stick to their guns, but despise candidates who cower and capitulate at the first whiff of gunsmoke.

  2. Repairing healthcare.gov is the road to salvation. Gutting the ACA is the road to perdition.