Saturday, July 11, 2009

Just about everyone agrees that our health care system is broken, but it's difficult to get wholesale agreement on just how to go about fixing it. Just a few days ago President Obama, with hospital association CEOs backing him up, announced that hospitals had agreed to take lower payments for Medicare and Medicaid patients while at the same time covering more patients who are without insurance. Now don't ask me to explain this because I, along with many others, don't have a clue about the details of medical billing. But we were assured by President Obama and the hospital association CEOs that the result would actually increase payments to hospitals while at the same time lowering overall costs for individuals.

Immediately after this announcement by President Obama, Sen. John Boehner's take on it was something like this: The Obama administration is strong-arming the hospital associations to take less money for patient care so the administration can force people to go with a single-payer government health care plan. Sen. Boehner, of course, has the congressional health care plan where he gets to choose from 11 plans and the government (that's us taxpayers) pays 75 percent of the premium (which can range from $55 to $350 per month, depending on the plan) and the remaining 25 percent is deducted from his base salary of over $16,000 per month as Senate minority leader (also paid by the taxpayers). A prescription drug plan is also included at minimal cost to the Senate.

Members of Congress have a single-payer, government run health care plan that is very similar to Medicare. It has all the outward characteristics of socialized medicine. Yet, when the Obama administration proposes a similar option for all Americans, suddenly socialized medicine becomes a very bad thing for those who want to undermine the president's proposal. And remember, the Obama administration is not proposing eliminating private health care plans. The president has said many times that if you like your current health care plan, you can keep it or change to the government's single-payer plan (similar to Medicare and the congressional plan).

By the way, did I mention I have been on Medicare for the past six years? I also have a supplemental plan and between the two I am very satisfied with the care I receive, the costs I have to pay for premiums and co-pays. I choose my own doctor, I go to specialists without having to be recommended by my primary physician or first receive permission from Medicare, I am not denied coverage for pre-existing conditions, I don't wait hours or days or weeks for service, I receive a monthly statement from Medicare indicating costs of service and I am almost never billed for any excess costs not covered by Medicare and my supplemental plan. The greatest medical cost I face is when I require surgery and a hospital stay. That co-pay cost is high, but will be reduced under the administration's plan.

Of course, I had to be 65 years old in order to qualify for Medicare. If the administration's single-payer health care plan is adopted, everyone, regardless of age, will qualify for the plan. This government plan (call it socialized medicine, if you like) would mirror the plan currently enjoyed by all members of Congress, including Sen. Boehner. Gee, I wonder what's wrong with that?

Millions of children and adults in this country are overweight, which leads to numerous health problems from diabetes to respiratory issues, heart problems and much more. The administration has proposed focusing its health care plan on preventative care and rewarding doctors for well patients, rather than just for addressing their health problems. If this is done, health care problems will diminish, our citizens will lead healthier lives and the eventual overall cost of health care will decrease tremendously.

Given the choice, I believe most people are prepared to exercise more and to eat properly to maintain optimum health. Of course, there will be those who choose not to care for their bodies, just as there are those who continue to use tobacco products. Well, that's their choice as individuals in a democracy.

Over the past several years, however, we have seen adults, especially those in their 30s and 40s, develop healthier lifestyles and, given adequate support from the health care system, we can expect to see this trend continue.

Let's just look at what we already know. The health care system in the United States is broken:

• The World Health Organization rates U.S. health care as 37th among developed nations.

• Nearly 50 million Americans are without health care.

• Health care costs continue to rise at exponential rates.

• Millions of Americans each year are forced into bankruptcy after experiencing a major health problem.

Can we really afford to let another opportunity for health care reform be squandered because of political posturing? We need to support the Obama administration's health care initiative by supporting logical, scientific, and economic debate on the subject that will eventually lead to a world-class health care system. Congress already has comprehensive health care; all Americans deserve the same.

John Andola, a Key West resident, is a retired educator and gay rights activist. His column appears in The Citizen on Saturdays. He can be contacted at jandola@keysnews.com.