Healthcare Reform: A Gray Area

If you Google “there is only one solution to a problem,” hundreds of pages say just that. Google Many people cannot think about a problem without convincing themselves there is only one solution. This is false. There is almost always more than one solution to a problem. Healthcare reform is an example of people trying to find the one solution to the problem. The healthcare debate has been going on for decades. One side argues one thing. The other side argues another. Both sides feel they have the right solution. Despite promises of change, not much has actually been accomplished. The healthcare reform debate has grown to a monstrous size and importance in our current government. But has anything really changed? One side still argues one thing. The other side still argues another. They both feel they are right, but is either one truly right or wrong? This is not a right or wrong, black or white, decision. Healthcare reform is a gray area.

One of the biggest promises made about healthcare reform is the promise of a bipartisan agreement. How is this possible when both sides are so stubborn and will not agree on virtually anything right now? President Obama was quoted on CNN's Anderson Cooper's 360 as saying, “This is an area where we are going to have to have a 60% majority in the Senate and the House in order to actually get a bill to my desk. We're going to have to have a majority to get a bill to my desk, that is not just a 50 plus one majority.” Anderson Cooper 360 This is what was promised in 2007; however, President Obama is now in support of just that, a 50 plus one majority called reconciliation. He believes this is the only way the new healthcare reform bill will be passed in the House.

The Democrats have been trying to push their healthcare reform bill through for months. Why is it taking so long? It is taking so long because neither the Democrats or Republicans will compromise as much as they need to. The bill the Democrats have put forth has some troubling issues. The Republicans do not approve. However, the Republican bill also has many holes in it. Unfortunately, both sides can only see the problems in the others' bill. They both feel there is only one solution, and they have the right one. Because both sides feel they have the right answer to America's problems, their stubbornness is not allowing them to see the flaws in their own plans.

After reading many articles on both sides of the problem, I've come to the conclusion that both sides are right; both sides have some great ideas. I've also come to the conclusion that both sides are wrong as well. Both plans are incomplete; therefore neither plan will work effectively. However, the main problem is not that the bills are incomplete, but that neither side is truly willing to work together for a feasible solution. The one thing both sides can agree on right now is that healthcare reform is necessary. There are too many uninsured Americans. Too many people go without help when they are sick, and too many people are being pulled down under the weight of expensive insurance and medical bills. The only solution to this problem is to understand there are many solutions if both sides are willing to work together.