What do raucous town-hall meetings, $57M in ad campaigns, a determined democratic president and a severely divided nation have in common? Health care reform.

 During his campaign, president-to-be Barack Obama announced a comprehensive health care reform plan. Now, nearly seven months after Obama’s inauguration, Republicans and Democrats agree that some form of health care reform is necessary, but they disagree markedly on what it should look like.

 President Obama has publicly acknowledged the partisan rancor, a longtime element of attempts to reform health care. In his Sept. 9 address to Congress, he attempted to reinvigorate his position and declared “I am not the first president to take up this cause, but I am determined to be the last.”

 As a result, American citizens find it difficult to turn on the TV, open a newspaper, or sit at the dinner table without hearing about health care. Yet a survey of 100 LHS students reveals 11 percent do not know if they have health insurance while eight percent do not have coverage.

 Lack of interest

To some, health care reform may seem too complex or simply irrelevant. Representative Stephanie Herseth-Sandlin (D) agreed to sit down with the Statesman to discuss why the health care debate matters for young people.

 “While the confusion about all of the policy details with health care … may not be directly relevant to the health care needs of people your age, it does affect people your age in terms of the ramifications of not acting to reform the system,” Herseth-Sandlin said.

 Of those surveyed that do have coverage, 68 percent do not know the details of their policy since someone else takes care of it for them. While students may not currently bear responsibility for the costs of health care, the story may be very different in the future.

 “There is no way we can get national debt under control unless we reform health care and if we don’t get our debt under control, your generation will have to pay for it,” Herseth-Sandlin said.

 As the fall semester comes into full swing, the long-term impact of consistent federal deficits, such as cuts in government services or subpar economic performance, may be the last thing on students’ minds, but the consequences of the health care debate might not be so distant.

 “[Health care reform] is not only important to you as kids who might suffer an illness going forward, [but] what if something happens to your parents and they don’t have coverage? What kind of burden does that shift on you? How does that affect your goals and your aspirations?” Herseth-Sandlin said.

 At Issue

According to the White House, over 46M people are uninsured with an additional 25M underinsured. The costs of health care continue to grow much faster than inflation, and the costs of health insurance have followed suit. This has put pressure on both self-insured individuals and the employers who provide the majority of health insurance in America.

 “Health care has been an issue for a very long time. Recently, the cost of health care, both medical and insurance, has risen so rapidly that many Americans are having trouble affording it,” Tom Lubeck, social studies dept., said.

 In an effort to combat those costs, President Obama has proposed a multi-faceted plan that has only grown in complexity as the House and Senate have developed their own versions.

 Each plan attempts to lower the cost of health care, improve the quality of care and increase access to insurance. Key proposals include investing in wellness and prevention, limiting the factors insurers can consider when offering insurance (particularly pre-existing conditions) and – most controversially – a public health insurance option. Estimates of the costs of the proposed programs vary widely.

 The debate

Obama’s proposed plan has ignited passionate debate. Many liberals feel that it is time to step up and pass reform as soon as possible, taking advantage of the democratic majorities in both houses of Congress. Many conservatives feel Obama has not made a serious effort at molding a bipartisan reform.

 South Dakota has not dodged the health care reform bullet – Senator Tim Johnson (D) believes reform is necessary despite a possible spike in deficit spending while Senator John Thune (R) feels that reform should cost Americans less money, not more.

 “Reform undoubtedly will be costly, but we cannot afford to wait because the path we are on now is unsustainable. In 30 years, up to one third of our nation’s wealth could be spent on health care,” Senator Tim Johnson said in an editorial run in the Sept. 13 Argus Leader.

 While many LHS students have remained withdrawn from health care discussions, some have engaged in reform debate. Seniors Ryan Stene and Sean Ingerson both are in favor of extensive health policy changes.

 “I feel that health care reform for a public option is an excellent idea as it follows the trends of every other Western upper-income country, and will indeed save us money. We put roughly 16 percent of our income into health care while Canada puts 10.5 percent in as the next highest,” Ingerson said. 

“I think the deficit is worth it, health care reform needs to happen,” Stene said.

Junior Adam Timmerman and senior Dan Digatano both feel the current health care reform proposals are crossing a fine line. 

“Hands off my health care,” Timmerman said.

“[The] public option is socialism, going across [each] state will increase competition without turning the United States into Canada,” Digatano said.

So what are the prospects for bipartisan reform on Capitol Hill? President Obama’s speech to Congress did not go off exactly as planned. His remarks were somewhat overshadowed by the outburst “You lie!” from SC Representative Joe Wilson (R). This indiscretion set off a media firestorm, further delaying possible successful negotiations between the left and right. With debate in full swing, the possibility of Congress passing a bill within the next month seems unlikely.

“"There's too much conflict and disagreement between the Democrats and Republicans, and a little antagonism too. A bipartisan solution is probably still a long ways off, but we can't afford to wait much longer,” senior Frank Liang said.