Changing the world.

• Author: Rothschild, Matthew
• Position: Editorial

In lobbying for the health care reform bill, Barack Obama liked to say, "Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good." But what he really meant was, "Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the mediocre."

Because the health care reform bill he signed into law was not nearly as good as it should have been.

It wasn't single-payer. It wasn't Medicare for all who want it, which 65 percent of Americans preferred. In fact, there was no public option at all.

Instead, he corralled thirty million Americans into the greedy arms of the insurance companies, further solidifying the private dominance of this public good.

And most of the benefits don't kick in until 2014, which is bad morals and bad politics. It leaves people to suffer needlessly, and it gives the Republicans an opportunity to roll back health care reform before most people have had an opportunity to enjoy its full fruits.

For instance, insurance companies can still discriminate against adults with preexisting conditions until the year 2014. If you're sick now, and you're over twenty-one but under sixty-five, you're going to have to try to hang on for three years and three quarters.

Then there was the assault on women's rights in the bill, which Obama made even worse by signing an executive order to placate the antiabortion crowd. This further entrenches the dreaded Hyde Amendment by establishing an "enforcement mechanism to ensure that Federal funds are not used for abortion services (except in cases of rape or incest, or when the life of the woman would be endangered)."

Yes, there are some good things in the new law.

Chief among these are the expansion of Medicaid to millions more Americans, the bolstering of community health centers, the ban on discriminating against kids with preexisting conditions, and the ban on rescissions (though the insurance companies may find a way...