Health Care: All eyes on us

Hey, this is cool: Joshua Kendall's nifty, elegant article in the Globe on the weird history of our employment-based health care system ("Why is healthcare tied to the workplace?") has been noticed by a couple of observers already. (Note the references to the influential book Uninsured in America by Sered and Fernandopulle, discussed here.)

The various proposals in play now number four: Mitt, Trav, now DiMasi, and the MassACT ballot initiative. And they show the wide variety of approaches for getting away from the employment-based insurance yoke: Is it a personal responsbility to insure one's self against sickness, or is it a necessity of life that a decent civilization extends to all its citizens? (Can you tell how I lean? Ha.)

In any event, it shows that what happens in the Bay State over the next few months may be a bellwether nationally:

Len Nichols, a health policy analyst at the New America Foundation, a nonprofit think tank in Washington that stresses bipartisan solutions, has carved out a position right down the middle. He has concluded that employer-sponsored coverage actually makes sense for a small fraction of workers-mostly those at big companies-and doesn't see why we shouldn't keep it in place for them. For low-wage workers and workers in small firms, he advocates subsidies so that they can buy into group plans-such as state-employee plans. Likewise, though he supports individual mandates, he also thinks raising at least a hundred billion dollars in taxes may be necessary to provide insurance to all Americans.

This month, Nichols plans to keep his eyes on Beacon Hill. ''Massachusetts," he says, ''is a fascinating test case, which will help us see where the country is headed."

So, where is it headed? We get to decide. We better start kicking butt.

Here's an action we can all take now to influence the debate in a positive way:

1. Take a moment to download the MassACT petition for their ballot initiative expanding health care access and affordability.
2. Sign it legibly (and get other voting members of the household to sign, too!) and put your city/town in the box in the upper right hand corner
3. Mail it to MassACT Campaign, 30 Winter Street, 10th Floor, Boston, MA 02108
4. Tell your elected reps what you just did (and maybe send them a copy -- marked as such -- of the signed petition!)

It may seem like a drop in the bucket for now, but it adds up fast, your elected representatives do notice ... and time is really of the essence. Like baseball, we are quickly entering the post-season of the health care debate.

Oh, and you could also show up to a rally next Thursday, October 27th at the Grand Staircase in the State House.