HEALTH REFORM

The national conversation about health care reform is very confusing. I readily admit that I don't know all of the ins and outs about the subject, but my own experiences tell me that something is seriously wrong with what we now have.

Several years ago, I went to the hospital emergency room for help with a moving kidney stone. The pain is pretty bad. Arriving at about 2:00 in the afternoon, I got home at 4:30. I remember the shot of pain medicine they gave me, and perhaps I have the faintest recollection of an x-ray. Admittedly, this occurred a numaber of years ago, so I may have forgotten other procedures. I was very grateful for the pain shot.

A few weeks later, I was notified that my insurance company was billed $4,500 for that two and one-half hour visit. That amount of money is absurd. It led me to believe that insurance companies really don't care what it costs; they just raise premiums to cover the cost and their profits. The point is, there is no economic brake on medical costs; our recent history confirms this. This is the reason I favor a "public option." Over the years, I paid more for health insurance than income tax; and I paid a lot of income tax.

I am not sure, but it's my impression that about 40-60 million people in the United States have no health insurance coverage. Let's face it, if you have no health insurance, you have no health care. A friend, dicussing the subject, told me, "Well, that's wrong. You just go to the emergency room and you'll find all kinds of people there getting free health care!" Truth in what he says, of course, but those same people are not going to get surgery for a slipped disk, a worn hip joint or cataracts.

When opponents of the concept begin scaring people with the notion of "death panels," it means to me that they don't really have a serious and rational basis for their opposition, other than preserving the status quo, which is enormously profitable for some. There is no substance to the claim of "death panels." The legislation only addresses compensation to doctors who are willing to discuss living wills with their patients. As an attorney, I've been doing that for years, and charging the patient/client for it.

Yes, I'm willing to give it a try!