Congress: Fix social insecurity

SINCE 1935, this nation has enjoyed Social Security. But for the past 35 years, it has suffered from an aggressive form of Social In-Security caused by the precarious state of the U.S. health-care system.

Polls say a majority of Americans like their health care, but one in four fear losing coverage, and nearly half are very worried or extremely worried about having their rates go up. And plenty should worry that the insurance they do have won't cover them if they get sick.

In the next few weeks, Congress has the best opportunity in decades to begin curing the Social In-Security that has crippled much of the American middle class. Actual legislation that represents true reform - universal coverage, a robust public option to provide competition, and a restructuring of payments to focus on prevention - has been marked up in both houses of Congress and will be voted on in the next two weeks in the House of Representatives. (In the Senate, Majority Leader Harry Reid said yesterday, the vote won't happen until September.)

But first, it appears, we have to survive a case of high anxiety: On any given Web site, you can find equal and opposite analyses of what's actually happening in the sausage factory on Capitol Hill and what kind of a day President Obama is having. TV coverage is no help, opting to cover the issue like a reality show - working title: "Waterloo: Obama vs. the Republicans." In fact, Obama's news conference Wednesday had to be moved up an hour because NBC couldn't bring itself to pre-empt "America's Got Talent."

It's no wonder many of us have symptoms of political vertigo; here are a few truths to hang on to:

* Promoting the idea that the legislation is "in

trouble" is itself part of the campaign against reform: fanning fear among members of Congress in swing districts that they will go out on a limb for a losing cause.

* Health-insurance reform delayed means health- insurance reform denied. Republicans already have voted "no" en masse on reform in Senate and House committees. They aren't interested in delay to "get it right" - just to get it over.

A leading Republican strategist says it's no time to even appear constructive, but to "go in for the kill." Democrats who try to delay are accessories to the crime.

* Heard the one about how the

United States has "the best health-care system in the world" and doesn't need an overhaul?

It may work well for the fortunate few, but for the rest it is actually the worst - 19th out of 19 industrialized nations when it comes to deaths that could have been prevented with timely and effective care, according to a 2008 report by the Commonwealth Fund.

* There is something you can do, even though our

area representatives already are on board with the House legislation. Volunteer with the Pennsylvania chapter of Health Care for America Now (www.hcanpa.org) - the coalition of 100 groups working for reform - which is organizing phone banks to urge uncommitted Democratic members of Congress to support the House bill.

It's hard to imagine what this country would be like if Congress had failed to seize the historic moment and pass Social Security in 1935. It's easy to imagine what it will be like if Congress fails to act now to cure Social In-Security.

We're looking at it. *