A Few Serious Thoughts about Health Coverage

by Ed Klein, Peoria, IL

What are your thoughts – or concerns – about the government playing a role in health care reform? Republican spokespersons and other conservative pundits attempt to shock us with horror stories about “socialized” medicine. “Government,” they say, “can’t possibly do for Americans what the marketplace can.” Cal Thomas warns that with government administered health care, we will face the horrors of long delays because of overworked doctors and bed shortages, having critical care postponed and life saving drugs denied, etc., etc. Thomas asks, “Do we want government telling us what type and quality of healthcare we can have? Should the government decide whether your grandmother ought to die because her recommended treatment is too expensive?” Perhaps Sarah Palin warning us of Obama’s “death tribunals” has you trembling for your life if you’re over 80 – or for your parents’ or grandparents’ lives.

If you agree with Thomas when he tells us the government can’t possibly do for Americans what the marketplace can, let’s take a look at how the marketplace is currently doing.

It now excludes 47 million Americans (8 million of them children) from coverage, undercovers about twice that number, has doubled our insurance premiums in the past eight years, and costs us more for healthcare per capita than any other country in the world. It has made corporate overhead costs the fastest growing component of healthcare, limits our choice of doctors, creates profits by routinely denying doctor-prescribed treatments to sick people … many of whom are elderly (Sarah, take note), while delivering a quality of health care that ranks 37th, just one notch above Slovenia, and blocks the availability of cheaper generic drugs in our own country, or from buying cheaper brand name drugs from countries like Canada. Columnist and radio reporter Jim Hightower, who provides us with the above view of marketplace healthcare says, “I think those far right conservatives are right, Government couldn’t possibly do all that for all Americans.”

On the other hand, Thomas’ fears of “socialized” medicine may have some credibility. He says “British and Canadian newspapers foretell what Americans might face should the Obama administration and a Democratic Congress prevail with their version of socialized medicine.” But Thomas doesn’t listen or chooses to ignore the facts because “socialized” healthcare is not what Canada has, nor what the administration is promoting. With socialized medicine, the total healthcare system is owned by and under government control like in Britain. In Canada, however, hospitals are privately owned and doctors are in private practice. The government simply handles the finances, leaving health decisions up to the doctors, their patients, and the medical community. There are no for-profit insurance companies run by bottom line business personnel dictating terms and sending costs skyward. But Canadians do have the option of purchasing private coverage if they desire. And when we hear about the long delays Canadians face in getting medical care and coming to the U.S. for needed care, Mr. Thomas inadvertently makes an excuse for that situation by telling us “Canada has far less access to advanced medical technology than the United States.” Contrast that with just one of hundreds – maybe thousands – of American cities such as Peoria, with its outstanding medical infrastructure including three large, progressive hospitals, each growing in size and facilities. We also have a new special care hospital; outpatient clinics; an expanding medical school; plus doctor groups offering specialized care. Then, think of the medical facilities in the surrounding area – Pekin, Hopedale, Canton, Galesburg, Kewanee, Pontiac, Eureka, etc. If Canada had anywhere near the facilities we do throughout most of the U.S., there wouldn’t be the shortage of facilities or long delays for service. Our current medical infrastructure and a single payer system based on the Canadian plan could very likely be the solution to our healthcare problems: private, low cost, accessible quality healthcare for everyone, rich and poor; businesses no longer burdened with employee coverage; no premiums to keep heading skyward with corporate overhead costs draining the system; no lobbyists spending millions representing for-profit insurance companies; no routine denials of doctor-prescribed treatments to the sick and elderly because of costs or existing health conditions, and in the long run, saving our country billions of dollars. Agree or not, this is something to think about – seriously.