Reform the Reformers

When I envision health care reform - I see a different vision than the politicians. Their focus is on getting everyone insured - which is important - but it is only a symptom of the real problem if you pardon the pun.

What I imagine is a system where even a person who isn't insured might be able to afford a Doctor visit, basic prescriptions and perhaps even minor surgery without losing their life savings. My system addresses the costs of health care - including education, equipment, salaries, patents and insurance. All of these costs are out of control. Forcing insurance companies to cover these expenses doesn't lower these costs - it just masks them. Once costs are under control, then perhaps insurance companies might be able to cover more people at a reasonable rate.

We might start at the education level. If healthcare workers don't have to immerse themselves in unbelievable debt to obtain their license to practice, then perhaps they wouldn't have to charge so much for an office visit. Another way to lower the cost of doing business for health care professionals is to put limits on malpractice payouts, which should lower malpractice insurance premiums. Don't get me wrong - if a professional makes a mistake causing damage or death - they should have to pay. But do all cases warrant a million dollar payout? Hardly.

Why does a hospital bed cost thousands of dollars - just because it has a little motor to lift it? Why does a box of tissue in the hospital cost $20 when it is less than a $1 at the store? Why do the drug companies get to charge hundreds of dollars for a new pill (that isn't even fully tested) just because they have an exclusive patent? If I were an insurance company - I wouldn't want to cover those extra costs either.

Doctors and educators also need to take an ethical look at their income statements. Is it justified to have a multi-million dollar income for doing your job? I do believe that if you have a specialized gift you should be duly compensated - but multi-million dollar compensated? I think not. Same goes for Lawyers and CEO's. If you are making that much money, you are stealing it from people who barely make enough to feed their families.

Now, if any of this makes sense to you, then you are probably realizing why health care reform is so hard to implement. Controlling costs means that someone has to make less money. Guess who that might be. If you guess those that are vehemently opposed to health care reform then you get a gold star! Yes folks, the Republicans are against any reform because they will surly lose money in the process. Money they are currently stealing from the good people of the USA in the form of over pricing for goods and services.

Sadly, this is the reason that I fear we will never have true reform.