Issue Position: Health Care

"If you think healthcare is expensive now, just wait until it's free." This recent Sound Off wisdom misses some nuance, but we do mark our ballot yes or no, Republican or Democrat, black or white.

Let's add some gray to this bumper sticker assessment:

*An uninsured (poor) mom has a toddler with an earache. She delays a doctor visit hoping the earache will disappear, but three days later it's the Emergency Room.
*A business with a dozen employees suddenly has one with a bad heart.
*GM pays $1000 per car for health care. Wal-Mart pays peanuts.
*President Bush vetoes expanded child health care (SCHIP) as evil socialism. (Good socialism is an oxymoron. That's why we call roads, fire protection, etc., public services.)
*Of the 40 million uninsured Americans, how many deserve it because they're lazy? 20 percent? 80 percent? Let's just punish them all!

Our current system fails many people. Our bumper sticker wag has no faith, offers the unlucky no hope, and forgets charity.

Congressman Ryan says transparency is key. Hospitals should disclose what they charge so we become better consumers.

But if my kid needs an appendectomy, knowing what a hospital charges is irrelevant -- What is relevant is if they accept my insurance. And if I have no insurance, the disclosed $10,000 versus $12,000 is also irrelevant -- I can't afford either.

Health care should be considered a public service. Only the federal government can align the players. We need major surgery, not Band-Aids.

Source