From last Saturday's Augusta (GA) Ledger-Enquirer:
Beware health-industrial complex
By Jack Bernard
Ledger-Enquirer
August 23, 2009
I am a Republican, former chairman of the Republican Party in Jasper County, Ga., and chair of that county commission.
In my view, it is unpatriotic to continue to lie to the American public about the situation facing us. Over the last 10 years, wages have gone up by about one-fourth. Health insurance premiums have gone up well over 100 percent. We cannot continue along this path to fiscal destruction. Inaction is not an option.
It is also against American values to mislead the public into believing that everyone can get good care even if they do not have insurance. The mark of a great nation is not how well it treats its privileged, but rather how well it treats its downtrodden. On this measure, we fail miserably; strange for a nation that prides itself on being the most religious democracy in the world. Where in the Bible did Jesus say “might makes right” or “those with the gold rule”?
Very few health or insurance professionals advocate for a single-payer system, the best way to control costs and ensure access. I hear all sorts of reasons: rationing (really, like HMOs do not do that now), paperwork (apparently insurance company bureaucracy does not count), socialism (come on — practitioners will still be independent and we all know it) and so forth. It is rare that we hear the underlying cause openly stated: greed. It will cut my income.
The members of Physicians for a National Health Plan are an exception to this rule. If you take a look at their Web site, www.pnhp.org, the rationale for a single-payer system is clearly articulated.
The French have the top system in the world, with something like Medicare covering 66 percent of costs and private insurance for the rest, yet their cost per capita is half of ours. Universal Medicare will both control costs and achieve universal access to high quality care. Congressmen would get the same insurance as you and I. You better believe your coverage would be just as good as or better than what you are getting now.
The problem is not technical; it is political. It is high time we put the country ahead of ourselves and establish a single-payer system.
Jack Bernard is CEO of Monticello (Ga.) Health Care Solutions and a former chairman of the Jasper County Commission and the Jasper County Republican Party.
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2 comments:
"Over the last 10 years, wages have gone up by about one-fourth. Health insurance premiums have gone up well over 100 percent. We cannot continue along this path to fiscal destruction."
Your words......think about that for a minute. :)
Alas, whoever-you-are, you seem to have missed a turn - these are NOT my words, but those of Jack Bernard,former chairman of the Republican Party in Jasper County, Ga.
And the "think about that for a minute" is something else you need to do here, since you utterly missed the meaning of what was said.
I'll put it more simply: if your salary was $10/hr ($1733/month) 10 years ago and you were paying
$300/month for healthcare coverage, that would be about 17% of your paycheck. Today you're making $2167/month and paying over $600/month for healthcare coverage - 28% of your paycheck. That's unsustainable for you on its face, and doesn't even reckon in groceries, gas, rent/mortgage, etc., almost ALL of which have gone up and taken bigger bites out of your paycheck.
THAT is the "fiscal destruction" Mr. bernard was speaking of.
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