Remember 1993 and health care? It was doomed because Americans did not want Big Government running one more part of their lives. Why? Because Government doesn’t do things very well – it’s as simple as that.
They – the Government – euphemistically refer to its proposed health care plan as simply one option in the public/private marketplace. But we – the people – know what that plan really is. It is socialized medicine.
So here we are again, sixteen years later, and Washington seems to have forgotten the lesson handed to the Clinton Administration. Or maybe it is finally sinking in – now that Congressmen/women and Senators have gone home and faced the tidal wave of anger, wrath and ire – you name it – from their constituents.
There are some issues in health care that really do need fixing and the Obama Administration could win big time if it would only address them.
First and foremost – tort reform!!! Why doesn’t Congress deal with tort reform? Why isn’t that simple? In all the rhetoric emanating from our Capitol, not a word on the subject – not from President Obama, not from Speaker Nancy Pelosi, not from Senator Dodd, not even from the vast majority of Republicans! Why? Okay – we all know the answer – it’s about the plaintiffs’ lawyers’ lobby. But really and truly – how many millions could they possibly have paid into the coffers of our legislators to make the subject so taboo?
Why doesn’t Bill O’Reilly or Chris Matthews or Larry Kudlow or Jim Lehrer do a serious interview with both Republican and Democrat lawmakers and grill them on the subject of tort reform? We – the rest of us Americans – are dying to hear the rationale for Congress’ deafening silence on this critical matter.
True tort reform would reduce the costs of medicine and would go a long way to helping people afford the premiums so many say are the reason they do buy health insurance.
A second easy fix – pre-existing conditions should have no bearing on a person’s ability to get health insurance. That is not only good policy but it is a matter of ethics. It is simple to do – it’s just a one line item. And it won’t run into much controversy and debate because even those who might oppose it know that it is the right thing to do.
The American way of life – the foundation of our success as a nation and an economy – prefers personal decision-making over Big Government edicts. Our not very long history as a nation is steeped in that doctrine. The hue and cry being voiced by people of all parties, religions, ways of life and financial means is ignored by our Government at its own risk – the risk of being voted out of office.
Dear Ms. Chadwick,
If government “doesn’t do things very well”, as you assert, then why is Medicare, the government-run single-payer health insurance plan for all Americans from the age of 65 and over, still widely accepted by the American people, and why does opinion survey after opinion survey reveal that people on Medicare are more satisfied with their health care and their insurance than are the bulk of Americans on private health insurance?
If the private sector does so much better than the public sector, why is it that our private for-profit health care system spends twice as much per person on health care than any other country in the world? Why do we spend at least 50% more of GDP on health care than any other developed country in the world? And why, even when our private insurance-based system spends so much more than any other country, do we now have over 50 million Americans uninsured, why do we have worse outcomes in so many areas than countries with national health care, why is our infant mortality rate so much higher than those countries, why is it that half of all mortgage foreclosures in America result from overwhelming health care-related expenses, why is it that nearly two-thirds of all individual bankruptcies result from health care-related expenses that they can’t pay? If the government does everything so badly, why is it that no one in Britain or Canada or France or Australia or Japan fears going bankrupt and losing their homes if they become seriously ill or incur an injury that requires a great deal of care or numerous surgeries? Why do those countries with government-run health insurance protect their citizens from those sickness and injury-related financial catastrophes, while our private sector insurance actually inflicts them on Americans?
If the private sector does so well and the government sector performs so poorly, how do you explain how miserably private health insurance has performed in this country, while Medicare is esteemed far higher by those on it?
And could you please answer my question about Greenwich Hospital? I take your point that they treated you and your son very well and with courtesy when he came in with an earache. But don’t they treat all patients coming into the hospital that way, whether they are on private insurance or Medicare or Medicaid?
And just how much did you have to spend for your son’s earache, both the deductable and the amount charged to your insurance company? Because it is precisely the high cost of health care that is such a problem in this country.
Simple, polite questions. I would really appreciate a response.
Comment by Sean — August 11th, 2009 @ 11:09 am
What idiocy! Do you think we are that stupid? 1993 healtcare reform failed because entrenched interests with connections killed it. The American way of life prefers honest dealing and trust to being continuosly lied to and defrauded by greed merchants. The insurance industry has shown itself to be incapapble of trust. It’s time for change. I suggest you wake up.
Comment by John Ehlers — August 11th, 2009 @ 2:41 pm