Health care finger pointing continues in Washington and through the media, but the lack of specifics and the unwillingness of congress and the administration to truly debate the issues leaves many of us wondering what is the defining issue that must be addressed.
Most people with insurance are happy with their current plans but think the premiums are too high.
Those without insurance want it at a reasonable price, free would be even better.
So if everyone is covered, the real reform issue seems to be the cost of insurance.
Well, maybe it's not that simple.
Let's dig a little deeper.
According to my dictionary, coverage means to protect and reform is defined as making something better by removing faults and defects.
Having coverage won't protect you if there are glaring faults and defects in the system.
Washington has stated that waste, fraud and abuse must be reduced.
However, these problems should have been addressed long ago and should be immediately identified and fixed before turning the entire health care system on its head.
If the politicians are looking for funds to cover the uninsured, pre-boomers and others enrolled in Medicare or Medicaid can expect their benefits to be cut.
But this will just spread the problem around.
Instead we need representatives who are willing to make the tough decisions that will get out-of-control costs under control.
In other words, we need reform in the pricing of medical services, including prescriptions.
It does not take an accounting degree to know that hospitals charge too much for medications and procedures, but who's challenging them? Prescription drugs are priced higher in the US than for the same products in other countries; so big pharma has some explaining to do here, don't you think? Doctors order tests and extra visits to cover themselves in case of law suits, but who is willing to address tort reform? Competition is known to bring prices in line; however, will the final health care plan allow us to buy insurance across state lines? There seem to be more questions than answers, so why don't we take smaller pieces of the puzzle and solve manageable problems rather than going for sweeping changes that could cause more troubles in the long run.
Ask congress to stop and take a breath.
They should consider providing basic coverage to all citizens until the problems are fixed.
The fixes alone might save enough money to cover these people.
Break up health care into its various parts and establish non-partisan committees to thoroughly study assigned elements and report the findings to their colleagues and the American public.
After due diligence is completed we can wrap our collective arms around the issues.
Because when it's all said and done, most of us want our fellow Americans to have access to health care.
However, throwing money at the problem solves nothing.
The costs for us, and generations to come, are too high to push through legislation without careful consideration.
We need a plan that is right for the people not the politicians.
Most people with insurance are happy with their current plans but think the premiums are too high.
Those without insurance want it at a reasonable price, free would be even better.
So if everyone is covered, the real reform issue seems to be the cost of insurance.
Well, maybe it's not that simple.
Let's dig a little deeper.
According to my dictionary, coverage means to protect and reform is defined as making something better by removing faults and defects.
Having coverage won't protect you if there are glaring faults and defects in the system.
Washington has stated that waste, fraud and abuse must be reduced.
However, these problems should have been addressed long ago and should be immediately identified and fixed before turning the entire health care system on its head.
If the politicians are looking for funds to cover the uninsured, pre-boomers and others enrolled in Medicare or Medicaid can expect their benefits to be cut.
But this will just spread the problem around.
Instead we need representatives who are willing to make the tough decisions that will get out-of-control costs under control.
In other words, we need reform in the pricing of medical services, including prescriptions.
It does not take an accounting degree to know that hospitals charge too much for medications and procedures, but who's challenging them? Prescription drugs are priced higher in the US than for the same products in other countries; so big pharma has some explaining to do here, don't you think? Doctors order tests and extra visits to cover themselves in case of law suits, but who is willing to address tort reform? Competition is known to bring prices in line; however, will the final health care plan allow us to buy insurance across state lines? There seem to be more questions than answers, so why don't we take smaller pieces of the puzzle and solve manageable problems rather than going for sweeping changes that could cause more troubles in the long run.
Ask congress to stop and take a breath.
They should consider providing basic coverage to all citizens until the problems are fixed.
The fixes alone might save enough money to cover these people.
Break up health care into its various parts and establish non-partisan committees to thoroughly study assigned elements and report the findings to their colleagues and the American public.
After due diligence is completed we can wrap our collective arms around the issues.
Because when it's all said and done, most of us want our fellow Americans to have access to health care.
However, throwing money at the problem solves nothing.
The costs for us, and generations to come, are too high to push through legislation without careful consideration.
We need a plan that is right for the people not the politicians.
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