What's the deal with health care?

At a recent family reunion my cousin, a West Point Graduate, retired Army officer doctor, who recently retired from private practice, admitted his conclusion that Socialized Medicine was the only practical solution.

Socialized institutions have gotten a bad rap from people who equate socialized institutions with Communism. But, we already have all kinds of socialized institutions that serve Americans quite well: police departments, fire departments, and military. Would we want to see the police as a “for profit” business?

Health insurance companies don’t add one Band-Aid to the health care of Americans. In fact, they only make it more expensive. If all health insurance companies were outlawed, the only thing that would change would be that Americans wouldn’t have to pay for their administration, excessive executive bonuses, glass and marble skyscrapers, marketing and advertising, lobbying payoffs, and obscene profits.

We are the only industrialized nation in the world that does not provide health care for all citizens. We rank 41st in Infant Mortality, and 33rd in life expectancy, and yet we pay more than twice per person than some of the very best health care systems in the world.

We already pay for the care of the very poor through our taxes, it’s the middle class that gets the bill for our broken system. My niece has insurance, and yet was presented with a bill over $500,000 for the operations to treat her daughter who was born with a deformed leg. A friend of mine, who is also insured, is about to be kicked out of the hospital because it’s taking too long for him to recover from a series of stokes. He can’t afford the $5,000 to $6,000 per month for nursing home care and will have to declare bankruptcy. We all have these stories.

Want to explore and discuss this further? The Fallbrook Democratic Club is presenting a free special screening of the documentary Sicko on Thursday, October 4th, 7:00pm at the FPUD boardroom. You’ve heard about the film, come and see for yourself. There will be a discussion following the film. Visit http://www.fallbrookdemocraticclub.com.

Jon Monday