Commentary: A disappointing vote against health care reform
The Lexington Herald-Leader
Ours is the only industrialized nation that doesn't insure all its people, yet our health care costs are the world's highest by far.
That tells us there will be no cure for runaway costs without universal coverage.
Rep. Ben Chandler apparently didn't buy that line of reasoning. He was one of 39 Democrats who joined all but one Republican in voting no on the reform plan that emerged from the House after a daylong debate Saturday.
Chandler cited the cost and his concerns about the bill's effects on rural hospitals and small businesses as reasons for his vote while also saying "there is no doubt that our health care system is broken."
Despite Chandler's reservations, the House moved this country closer than ever to fixing its broken health care system.
The Senate should get busy and finish the job.
Opponents are insisting that Congress and President Barack Obama should forget health care for now and put all their focus on creating jobs as national unemployment tops 10 percent for the first time since the early 1980s.
But reining in the cost of health care is a way to create jobs. The relentless increase in insurance premiums is a drag on U.S. businesses by draining away profits that could go into new job-creating investments.
To read the complete editorial, visit The Lexington Herald-Leader.
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