Health Care Woes The Fault Of A System, Not The Unions
Sydney Morning Herald
Thursday November 13, 2008
Marcus Coleman (no relation) is entitled to argue that automotive unions in the United States have been resistant to changing market conditions, but he errs in casting blame on the unions for the dysfunctional US health system and other social security arrangements (Letters, November 12).
The US Government has long had a system under which employers take responsibility for providing health insurance and retirement benefits, along with other work-related entitlements. The Clinton administration found it impossible to bring about substantive reform of the health care financing system, given the entrenched opposition of insurance funds and the view of the American Medical Association that a government-backed system, as in Canada or Australia, equated to communism. Barack Obama will face similar diehard opposition.The burden placed on business by the "legacy" arrangements, through which firms are responsible for maintaining health-care payments and other benefits for employees long since retired or retrenched, is heavy. It does reduce their capacity to meet changing circumstances, but it is wrong to place all the blame for this on the unions.That is the system successive US governments have wanted, almost regardless of which party has held power. It is one reason why such a large proportion of the US population - those who are unemployed or have casual or low-paying jobs without benefits - has no access to health care.Of course, it is also a frightful system for retired workers when their one-time employer goes bankrupt. Few private citizens can afford to meet the entire costs of health insurance and retirement incomes from their savings.Marie Coleman Dickson (ACT)
© 2008 Sydney Morning Herald
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