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D'ARCONTE: Fix health insurance? No-brainer
Top Headlines But when it comes to health insurance, I think we need to all agree that it needs to be fixed. This is nothing to scream and act up about. Really. Just face the fact. As someone who pays for health insurance, and as an employer who sees how draining our current system is, it's inevitable that it must change - or collapse. And government health insurance, part of the latest proposal, is a workable, doable option. Congressman McGovern spoke about health care last week at a United Regional Chamber of Commerce event. Here's what I heard: - Those of us with health insurance are paying the doctor bills for those who don't have it. - If heart disease was cured tomorrow, our health-care system would collapse, because our system is built on treatment, not prevention. No comprehensive prevention system exits anywhere in our health-care industry. - Americans pay more for health care than any country in the world, yet our national life expectancy is lower than Bosnia's, and our infant mortality rate is higher than Cuba's. - Business and industry are picking up the biggest part of the bill for health care, and that affects us in every way, from higher prices to lower take-home to fewer jobs. As one of the 97 percent of Massachusetts residents who has health insurance - and that number's so high because we adopted a mandatory health insurance program with a government-funded option - and as an employer, I'm looking for a system that works better, stresses prevention and rewards people who succeed in becoming healthier. And, in the end, a program that takes less from my pocket that our current system. The status quo is unacceptable. It is only making us sicker. Ask Dracula I love the latest nickname for preventing the spread of germs - the Dracula Sneeze. When you have to sneeze, bring up your arm and sneeze into your elbow area, not into the air, into your hand or on the person next to you. Then pause a moment, cock an ear and listen for "the children of the night." Sunday sermon "The idea that religion and politics don't mix was invented by the devil to keep Christians from running their own country." Thanks for the papers Thanks to Bill Napolitano of North Attleboro for papers from Baltimore and Washington, D.C. Thanks to Mike Warenda who brought me some papers from Amsterdam, N.Y., and one from Alexandria Bay, N.Y., that his brother game him for me. During his visit with his brother in Amsterdam he went with him to a pig roast benefit for his brother's ailing son-in-law Gerald. "Here are papers we picked up on a two-week trip to Florida," write Barbara and Aime Turgeon, who brought me back copies of The Palm Beach Post and the Orlando Sentinel. See you next week. ORESTE P. D'ARCONTE
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thunder wrote on Nov 2, 2009 8:26 AM:
The problem with not so much with our health CARE as it is with the financing of it. Why does an aspirin cost so much in a hospital? It's a similar question to years ago when folks asked why the military was paying so much for hammers? "
VladsBack!! wrote on Nov 1, 2009 2:43 PM:
gimmesum wrote on Nov 1, 2009 11:05 AM:
You are absolutely correct. WE are the victims. But it is not just the insurance companies that are the evil doers. And I am optimistic the foundations of the current system could be rebuilt and do a much more efficient and effective job than any government bureaucracy could. "
VladsBack!! wrote on Nov 1, 2009 8:59 AM:
FINALLY choke the life out of private health insurance companies? Really, gimmesum? Even after 65 years of enjoying protected markets as a legally sanctioned cartel, the private health insurance companies can't or won't provide affordable health insurance to as many as possible. If they need to crash in order to accomplish this goal, so be it, but they are not the victims here. "
gimmesum wrote on Nov 1, 2009 7:19 AM:
The purpose of the public option at the federal level is to FINALLY choke the life out of private health insurance companies. It's taken decades, but they have almost accomplished their mission.
I do not see how the insurance industry is at fault when it comes to prevention vs. treatment. Heart disease, cancer, obesity, liver disease etc are all due mainly to lifestyle choices.
One could argue if we really wanted a healthier America, we would not have bars, liquor stores, cigerettes etc. available on every street corner. We would eliminate beer sales at sporting events to set an example for the kids. We certainly would not be moving towards the legalization of any drug. Last night, once again, we did the traditional walk of shame known as trick or treat. What does that say about our desire for a healthy America. "