Health Care

I thought today that I would just share a few of my thoughts regarding the current debate over health care. I hear more and more about it every day, but we seem no closer to a solution than we were last November. One thing I notice is that everyone currently constructing these bills (the President, Pelosi, Congressmen, etc.) and the general population have virtually no experience or knowledge about the runnings of our current system. I don't claim to be an expert, but I do have some experience in the industry from a private and public perspective.

I'm tempted to dismiss most of the ideas as poor, but I've also never been in a situation where I didn't have health care. Growing up, I had access to health care, so I've never experienced the difficulties others without insurance face. But, I hear a lot that health care is a "right," but I don't know if it's a right that we should not have to pay our own hospital bills. Then again, I've never read the entire Constitution, so it could be in there. [Hint: I know it's not.] I'm not saying that we shouldn't have some sort of universal health-care system; but, I'm not convinced that it's the best idea for our country.

Obama's promises haven't helped convince me, either. He beat to death the crazier rumors; e.g., death panels, but he's neglected to tackle any real issues with his plan. For instance: democrats propose a "government option" to offer more choices. Historically, Medicare has controlled costs by reimbursing providers (hospitals, etc.) at a lower rate than other insurance companies. These providers, to make up the difference, demand higher reimbursement rates from private insurance companies, which drives up insurance costs for everyone. This is already happening. Medicare, while working well, is a fiscal disaster. I see no reason why the public option wouldn't do the same thing. Obama stated that any public option would not be subsidized by the government, and would be supported only from premiums. If this was possible, why isn't it being done already?

There are many reasons why I don't agree with health care reform in its current state. I especially don't agree with Obama's effort to rush this through as fast as possible. Taking this step "locks in" billions and possibly trillions of dollars of expense. These bills are so large and complex that no one could possible get through them in a short amount of time, yet we want to vote this into effect before any single member of congress has read the entire bill? Scary! Here are some sites I found interesting; they do have a biased tone, but I believe their points are valid. But, if you're interested, check out what the other side has to say. Somewhere, between the lies, accusations and deficits, there is a good solution.

http://blog.heritage.org/2009/09/10/obama-speech-fact-check/

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/27/AR2009072701905.html

http://www.forbes.com/2009/06/30/obama-health-care-reform-opinions-columnists-public-option-medicare.html