Healthcare Reform

Dale Berman doesn't just have a rooting interest in the Supreme Court upholding the healthcare reform law. You could say his life depends on it. Berman, 54, of Burbank is a freelance photographer who has hadCrohn's diseasehis entire life. Crohn's is a severe intestinal disorder that can cause intense pain and a variety of complications. Berman has had to undergo three operations and has been hospitalized on numerous occasions. He's also watched as his insurance costs have steadily increased over the years, forcing him to seek refuge in government programs for "high-risk" patients who are unable to receive affordable coverage from private-sector insurers.

It's been almost two years since President Obama signed healthcare reform into law. And even now, it seems most Americans still have no clue as to what was approved or how it works. A USA Today / Gallup poll released this week shows that almost three-quarters of us think a requirement for nearly all people to buy insurance — the so-called individual mandate — is unconstitutional. About 70% of poll respondents say the reform law hasn't affected them personally. Roughly a third of Americans say the changes won't make any difference for their family, and 38% say they'll make things worse.

For the birds Re " Seabird rescues up sharply ," March 7 So, oil seeping naturally from the ocean floor off Santa Barbara is to blame for all these oil-soaked birds. I have a hard time believing that's all there is to it. Oil companies have drilled many a hole into the sea floor over the last 60-plus years and have sucked out many millions of barrels of crude. Surely that wouldn't have anything to do with leaks? Growing up in Long Beach and surfing Bolsa Chica in the early 1960s, I got used to cleaning tar off my feet, but it seemed that Huntington was as far south as the oil drifted back then.

Reaching agreement on a landmark plan for universal healthcare in California was always going to be an uphill battle. Sweeping reform has to overcome a state government that is beholden to special interests, limited in power by voter-approved initiatives and highly partisan. And healthcare reform is an incredibly complex issue because it involves some of the state's most powerful players -- doctors, insurers, the business lobby, hospitals.

Once again, Sacramento has failed California. From misdirected water bond talks to lip service on redistricting to hopes for a "Year of Education" that will go unrealized to this week's defeat of healthcare reform, we are reminded of state government's sad inability to get anything done. To be sure, fixing healthcare is a tall order -- Gov.

Four leading advocacy groups representing business, labor and retirees are starting a campaign today to press Barack Obama to enact comprehensive healthcare reform, upping the pressure on the president-elect to tackle the issue quickly after he takes office. In a letter to Obama, the Business Roundtable, the National Federation of Independent Businesses, AARP and the Service Employees International Union urge that a healthcare overhaul be a priority in the administration's first 100 days.

Not surprisingly, the Supreme Court on Monday agreed to decide the constitutionality of the individual mandate in the Affordable Care Act, the healthcare reform package passed in 2010. Under current constitutional law, this should be an easy case to predict -- the law is clearly constitutional. But what complicates the decision and makes the result unpredictable is whether the justices will see the issue in terms of precedent or through the partisanship that has so dominated the public debate and most of the court decisions so far. The primary issue before the Supreme Court is whether Congress' power to regulate commerce among the states gives it the authority to require that individuals either purchase health insurance or pay a penalty.

I was a mile into a recent treadmill workout when coverage began to air of President Obama's healthcare forum at the White House. As I watched, I found myself gradually gaining speed, growing more and more upset. His plan to provide affordable, accessible healthcare for all Americans is strikingly flawed. It demands fundamental change from insurance companies, hospitals and healthcare providers -- and fails to address what healthcare consumers themselves should do.

Two years after Congress enacted a sweeping healthcare reform measure, lawmakers are still battling over how to rein in the rising cost of medical care. On Thursday, the House voted to eliminate one of the main cost controls in the 2010 law: the Independent Payments Advisory Board, whose purpose is to keep a lid on the growth of Medicare's budget. The board may be a blunt instrument, but it's not the threat that its detractors claim. The advisory board is something of a fallback plan in case the slew of other cost-control measures in the healthcare reform law don't pan out. For any year in which Medicare costs are projected to rise faster than the targets set by the law, the board - 15 full-time members with relevant expertise, appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate - must recommend ways to rein in spending.