Reform of health care in the U.S.

Come one come all, free health care for everyone! No more co-pays, deductibles or referrals. No more wondering what your portion of the bill will be because there will be no bill. This is utopia. Or is it?

President Obama believes and ran on the promise of heath care for all. While the idea has merit, in that no one goes without, is it feasible? Can we keep the quality of our health care, a system envied by many Canadians and Europeans, if we allow the government to control the reigns? Consider carefully, Medicare, Social security and federally funded health care for the poor, before you answer that question.

What the majority of Americans hear with the promise the president made is, everyone will be covered, and it’s free. While that may appear to be true under a single payer system, it really isn’t. Doctors, nurses, hospitals, radiologists and pharmacists still need to be paid; they will not be working for nothing. Under the single payer system, it will be the government who pays the bill. Where does the government get the money for this? Why from you and me, of course. Just because you will no longer receive a bill in the mail, doesn’t mean you won’t be paying for it. The difference is you will also be paying for your neighbors those that, for whatever reason, do not pay into the system.

Before we rush in to changing and possibly crippling our medical care system, should we not address the reason reform is needed in the first place? One reason there are so many Americans without health insurance is because it is far too expensive. A big part of the expense is due to Tort Law. It is the frivolous law suits headed by greedy lawyers that have caused insurance premiums to rise over the years. Insurance companies are also part of the problem. They have the right to deny coverage to those that may have a pre-existing condition. By the time we make it to adulthood, most of us have had something, to be denied medical insurance because of that is wrong.

In order to fulfill a promise, the president should not make the mistake of treating the symptom of our health care problems by ignoring the cause. Reform is needed; Tort reform and reform in the way insurance companies do business. In regard to “Universal health care,” the old adage applies, “If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.”