The Grand Perhaps of Health Reform

I am going to seek a grand perhaps; draw the curtain, the farce is played.

Francois Rabelais (1494-1553), Gargantua and Pantagruel, Book IV

I love the word “perhaps” as applied to health reform.  “Perhaps,” of course, means “possibly”, or “maybe”.  

“Perhaps” implies uncertainty. And everything these days about health care and health reform bristles with uncertainty.

I once had a pathologist give me this advice in writing pathology reports,  “Whatever you give away in the discussion, take back with the diagnosis.”

“Perhaps” is a perfect way of taking back what you have said in the preceding discussion or sentence on any given health care reform topic.  No one, to my knowledge, knows the future of health reform.  By using “perhaps, “ you are wisely being humble.

·         ObamaCare may succeed, but perhaps it will fail.

·         Health exchanges may gain some traction,  but perhaps they will not. 

·         Perhaps healthcare.gov can be fixed, but perhaps not.

·         Health premiums and deductibles will rise in most states,  but perhaps not, depending on the state and its current level of premiums and deductibles.  

·         Some states perhaps will accept federal Medicaid expansion funds, but  most will not.

·         Young people may welcome government subsidies to help them buy into health plans,  but perhaps not if the price is too high.

·         ObamaCare may retard business growth, but perhaps it does not. 

·         The health law may be turning us into a part-time nation and retard hiring of full-time workers, but perhaps not.

·         Perhaps uncertainty is the bane of business planners,  but maybe not.

With “perhaps, “ you can hedge and dodge,  withdraw, and equivocate, and show exquisite balance.  

“Perhaps” is a great word, an indispensable word,  adaptable to all occasions when the outcome is uncertain and you are on the fence.

What a wondrous word is “perhaps,”

You can use it to cover your mishaps.

It’s a way of avoiding shooting verbal craps,

Of putting your true thoughts under wraps.

Tweet:  The future of the health reform law and its website is in a state of uncertainty.  Perhaps it will succeed, but then again, perhaps not.