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Friday
November 20, 2009 Since 1922 |
Health-care reform a bitter pill?
From staff reports
Baytown Sun Published July 19, 2009 They’re at it again.
It was bad enough that Congress rammed the stimulus package through without allowing its members — nor the public for that matter — time to read it, much less analyze it. Now the party in power is trying to push through a health-care proposal that leaves people unclear about the details.
At least former President Bill Clinton took the time to try to get the public on board with his health-care proposal in 1994. The current administration is trying to address an issue in a month and a half that has not been resolved in well over a decade.
We’re not saying that there isn’t a need for health-care reform. We’re saying that government has no business in the business of providing insurance.
Under the plan, the government would create a public health plan available through federal or state “insurance exchanges” that would be set up and run by the secretary of Health and Human Services.
At the same time, a committee would recommend an “essential benefits package” that would become the minimum standard for employer plans.
So far, though, the federal government’s track record when involved with health care has been spotty at best. Consider:
• Last month, the Associated Press reported that about half of the Veteran Administration’s hospitals and facilities were found to not to have proper training and guidelines in effect for endoscopic procedures.
• In 2007, the VA’s vast network of 1,400 health clinics and hospitals was beset by maintenance problems such as mold, leaking roofs and even a colony of bats, an internal review showed.
• Medicare and Medicaid have not been without problems, either. In May, the AP reported that Medicare trustees said the plan would be insolvent by 2017.
This is not to mention the problems of other government-sponsored programs such as Amtrak. Social Security is predicted to start paying out more than it receives in seven years. Then there is the inability of the Federal Emergency Management Agency to provide timely and effective disaster relief.
These are not sterling examples of success.
But the biggest problem we have with the health-care plan is that it is being rushed through Congress. With the new administration in office a little more than six months, the government has spent less time developing and providing information on a “comprehensive” national health-care reform than most companies do in developing a new product.
On Friday, President Obama sent a message to members of Congress: “Now, I realize that the last few miles of any race are the hardest to run, but I have to say now is not the time to slow down, and now is certainly not the time to lose heart.”
Members of Congress should do just the opposite. Slow down, inform your constituents and get more feedback.
Below is a list of representatives and senators. Let them know how you feel.
Baytown Sun Published July 19, 2009 They’re at it again.
It was bad enough that Congress rammed the stimulus package through without allowing its members — nor the public for that matter — time to read it, much less analyze it. Now the party in power is trying to push through a health-care proposal that leaves people unclear about the details.
At least former President Bill Clinton took the time to try to get the public on board with his health-care proposal in 1994. The current administration is trying to address an issue in a month and a half that has not been resolved in well over a decade.
We’re not saying that there isn’t a need for health-care reform. We’re saying that government has no business in the business of providing insurance.
Under the plan, the government would create a public health plan available through federal or state “insurance exchanges” that would be set up and run by the secretary of Health and Human Services.
At the same time, a committee would recommend an “essential benefits package” that would become the minimum standard for employer plans.
So far, though, the federal government’s track record when involved with health care has been spotty at best. Consider:
• Last month, the Associated Press reported that about half of the Veteran Administration’s hospitals and facilities were found to not to have proper training and guidelines in effect for endoscopic procedures.
• In 2007, the VA’s vast network of 1,400 health clinics and hospitals was beset by maintenance problems such as mold, leaking roofs and even a colony of bats, an internal review showed.
• Medicare and Medicaid have not been without problems, either. In May, the AP reported that Medicare trustees said the plan would be insolvent by 2017.
This is not to mention the problems of other government-sponsored programs such as Amtrak. Social Security is predicted to start paying out more than it receives in seven years. Then there is the inability of the Federal Emergency Management Agency to provide timely and effective disaster relief.
These are not sterling examples of success.
But the biggest problem we have with the health-care plan is that it is being rushed through Congress. With the new administration in office a little more than six months, the government has spent less time developing and providing information on a “comprehensive” national health-care reform than most companies do in developing a new product.
On Friday, President Obama sent a message to members of Congress: “Now, I realize that the last few miles of any race are the hardest to run, but I have to say now is not the time to slow down, and now is certainly not the time to lose heart.”
Members of Congress should do just the opposite. Slow down, inform your constituents and get more feedback.
Below is a list of representatives and senators. Let them know how you feel.