Guest Editorial | Cherie Miner

“Who’s to blame for health care costs?” you ask in your Oct. 11 editorial. You point the finger at President Obama because he campaigned for health care reform. Did you really expect one man to roll over Congress and the courts to give you exactly what you want?

What we got in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) was the only politically feasible solution. Is it the best solution? No. But until we are ready to look beyond labels like “socialism,” it’s the best we’re going to get.

Of course you also note it may be unfair to blame the president entirely for what you see as a relatively ineffective law.

Yet you do it, although the president is not responsible for passing legislation – Congress is.

And our current Congress has been dead locked by an opposition party interested in obstructing this president, rather than governing for the common good.

Regarding increasing insurance costs, a Nov. 19, 2010 article about PPACA and rising health insurance costs on Factcheck.org says: “But state insurance commissioners and health care experts told us the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is responsible in most cases for only a small portion of these increases. The main cause of double-digit rate hikes is rising medical costs.” (From http://www.factcheck.org/2010/11/the-truth-about-health-insurance-premiums/)

As your editorial noted, the recession has exacerbated these costs.

But you did not ask how much costs would have increased without the PPACA, which sets limits on:

The percentage health insurers can raise premiums and How much insurers can spend on overhead. Under PPACA, 85 percent of premiums must cover care.

You do note many of the law’s provisions are delayed until 2014.

I would encourage you, and your readers to explore what the law offers, at: http://www.healthcare.gov/ and http://www.healthcareandyou.org/what-is/

The Express should be interested in the tax credits for some small businesses, and even if the paper doesn’t qualify, I’m sure you have advertisers who do.

Personally, I like the provision enacted in September 2010 that allows my 22-year-old son to stay on our family policy to age 26.

He just graduated from college and is searching for full-time employment.

And as the Des Moines Register reports here: http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20111014/OPINION03/310140015/Wh... plenty of other people like the legislation, even with its limits.

Unfortunately, Americans have the idea that waving the flag, sporting flag pins and car magnets, supporting the troops and voting equals patriotic civic duty.

Sorry, but democracy is messy. To find the author of our current economic woes, every one of us should look in the mirror.

Many of our problems stem from an uninformed populace unengaged in our political process and apathetic to the intersection of economics and politics.

Many do not understand mainstream media reports are shaped by corporate owners with an agenda counter to individual citizens’ interests. But health care is one issue on which both employers and individuals get pummeled financially.

Yet the U.S. Chamber of Commerce has consistently fought national health care. I believe national health care would be a huge economic stimulus.

So before you abandon a president who faces unprecedented opposition, maybe you should ask, “What more can I do.” Advocacy is relatively simple, and if everyone did it, things would be different. Here’s what I do.

First, I read—as much as time allows from all kinds of sources. And I question what I read, see and hear.  I talk to people and I listen. 

I do not forward chain e-mails or Facebook posts. I check sources. I e-mail, call and write my local, state and federal representation. 

I occasionally make it to briefings and local appearances by representatives; I have even attended a couple of rallies. I sign petitions.  I write letters to the editor. 

I use the platforms available to me: Bible studies, church, organization and school meetings, Facebook, kitchen table conversations, etc. to talk about issues of importance to our common life—without telling people what to think. I make contributions to candidates and organizations I support. 

Everyone can do one, a couple or all of these things.  They aren't hard, but they do take will.