Health Care as Economic Issue

05 July 2010

Health care is not only a scientific and social issue; it is an economic issue as well. The decisions we make about health-care reform will affect many aspects of our economy, including the pace of economic growth, wages and living standards, and government budgets, to name a few.

Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke Senate Finance Committee Health Reform Summit - June 16, 2008

Americans believe there is a strong and direct link between improving the current economic situation and health care. In fact, Americans say "making health care more affordable" should be the number one priority to help improve the current economic situation for the average American.

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation National Survey Results - April 2008

Connect the Dots:

The affordability of health care is one of the greatest concerns of working Americans as they try to take care of their families, particularly during the economic downturn, when losing a job can meaning losing your doctor, your health insurance, and your ability to buy prescription drugs for yourself and your family.

Use the Language of the Kitchen Table:

Voters respond strongly to health care when talked about in terms that relate to their own personal experience. Micro not macro: It is more motivating to talk about the personal issue and not Chrysler.

Personalize the issue:

Talk about the beneficiaries of reform—hard working middle class families who are getting squeezed by the rising costs of gas, health care, prescription drugs, and groceries. Remind voters that the current system is not working for people like them. Present specific aspects of the current insurance system that are failing the middle class (e.g., preexisting conditions, high deductibles, people afraid of making a job change because they will lose their insurance coverage). People strongly identify with statements about what rising costs are doing to their families, and they strongly support the message that people who work ought to be able to afford to take their kids to the doctor.

Channel Anger:

Insurance and drug companies are recording huge profits while ordinary Americans are being squeezed by higher costs and plants are closing. These facts increase anger and motivate change.

On the Side of Small Business:

Small business owners are very unhappy about the current health care system and are an important swing constituency. They are viewed very positively by the American public. Talk about the fact that most small business owners want to do right by their employees by offering them good health insurance programs but the cost is prohibitive, and that we're strangling small businesses and American ingenuity as people stay in "safe" jobs that have health care rather than doing what Americans have always done: to start a business with a little capital, a lot of elbow grease, and a good idea.

Examples:

It's not right that hard-working American families are struggling to afford health care and prescription drugs. People shouldn't have to worry about losing their doctor if they lose their job through no fault of their own. Our new law makes health care more affordable, helps take the health care load off of small businesses, and cracks down on insurance companies that unfairly deny coverage and put sick people at risk of losing their life savings.

Middle class Americans are having a harder time making ends meet. If that means cutting the profits of insurance companies and requiring big businesses to contribute to the health insurance of their employees, my sympathy is with people who work for a living. Health care premiums have nearly doubled for the average family. At the same time insurance company profits have more than doubled. Our new law puts some money back in the pockets of working Americans and gives us all peace of mind about the health of our families.

The economy is exactly why we needed health care reform. Everyone I talk to is feeling the pinch – my neighbors, local businesses - we're losing jobs and our industries can't compete because of the high costs of health care.

Middle class Americans are having a harder time making ends meet. People shouldn't have to choose between filling a prescription or filling up at the gas station. Our new law makes real improvements in the economy by making health care more affordable.