The GOP’s new imbroglio
It is said that the greatest patriots in America are often emigres born under authoritarian regimes. They better appreciate freedoms they acquired than freedoms they were born to. I understand that. I was born in the USA and enjoyed all its freedoms. Except universal healthcare. But when I moved to England more than 20 years ago, all that changed.
I never cease being deeply appreciative of the fact that I can leave my credit cards at home and go see my doctor for free. There are no tedious forms to fill out, no co-pays, no tense moments. I don’t have to live in dread of some distant day when I fall ill and cannot afford treatment. I probably appreciate that more than the average Brit, most of whom have never known anything else. I can’t help it, to this day I still slip into the habit of thinking of free healthcare as a luxury instead of what it is — a human right.
Growing up in America I fell for the lies that the money boys told me, that countries with free healthcare were communist and its citizens paid crippling taxes. That’s simply not true. The cost of living in the US is actually higher than in Britain. I don’t like taxes any more than the next guy, but they’re not bad here, and the tax system isn’t as complicated as it is in the USA.
During the 2008 presidential election my father told me Republicans were telling everyone who would listen, “If you want to know how bad state-sponsored healthcare is, just ask a Brit what they think of the NHS.” They told that lie in the expectant hope that no one would actually ask a Brit. And of course, very few actually did. I told my dad that, despite the inevitable complaints about the NHS, Brits love it and would kill to keep it.
American healthcare, simply put, is a scam. The cost of medical treatment in America is high because greedy insurance companies make it that way. Their job is to deny your claim and keep your money while making you feel stupid for not reading the fine print.
Their conceit is to refer to themselves as “healthcare providers.” As Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez puts it, “Can we stop calling insurance companies ‘providers?’ They don’t provide health care. That’s what doctors, nurses, therapists, aides, etc do. Insurance companies are in the business to do the opposite. They are obstacles to care.”
In America it’s as if it’s illegal to be poor and the penalty is death. That’s not literally true, of course, but it might as well be. To my way of thinking, the lack of universal healthcare in America is shameful. Every other civilised nation on earth has it.
The Affordable Care Act (ACA), what Republicans call “Obamacare,” was a magnificent step in that direction. Barack Obama wanted affordable healthcare for everyone, and while he never quite achieved it thanks to Republicans, he nearly managed it for roughly half the uninsured in America. With Republican opposition every step of the way, Obama oversaw an expansion of Medicaid eligibility and changes to individual insurance markets. Several Congressional Budget Office (CBO) reports said that overall these provisions actually reduced the budget deficit by paying for it through taxes to the richest 1%.
So repealing the ACA would actually increase the deficit and throw some 20 million Americans off their healthcare. But at least the richest 1% will get a tax break. Republicans hope so. As soon as they can they have pledged to get rid of it. In one of the greatest absurdities of the 2024 election, many Americans voted for Trump because he promised to “get rid of Obamacare,” not realising that it was the same thing as the Affordable Care Act!
I am deeply opposed to violence of any kind, especially political violence, but I understand the impulse behind the glee of some people when UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was murdered in New York. He quickly became — unjustly — a symbol for the frustration people feel about greedy insurance companies and the lack of universal healthcare in the US. (As I write this a suspect in the killing, Luigi Mangione, 26, has been arrested.)
Obviously, murdering insurance executives isn’t the answer. Changing the law is. But with Republicans soon in charge, you can expect another attempted assault on the ACA will be inevitable. And this time, alas, there will be no John McCain around to save it. Whatever happens, brothers and sisters, take care of yourselves, and if you can, take care of someone else too.
Robert Harrington is an American expat living in Britain. He is a portrait painter.