You may be spending a little time today checking out the big health care summit going on in Washington, and if so, good for you for caring about such a critical issue. But whether you’re watching the D.C. talkathon or not, take a little time out to read “Rising Blue Cross bills stun N.C. families” in today’s paper, picked up from Raleigh’s News & Observer. Unless you’re a right-wing zealot, or simply don’t give a rip about anyone else (often the same thing), you have to conclude that the hard slog of passing real, fundamental health care reform has to keep going forward.
The N&O story, by Alan Wolf, reports on Blue Cross Blue Shield raising premiums for a healthy 17-year-old Durham girl more than 50 percent. Why? Because she has two pre-existing conditions: 1. She’s female; and 2. She turned 17.
No one knows what the result of the health care debate in D.C. will be, but any final law should at least include regulations that would make the kind of predatory gouging that the 17-year-old’s family is going through a thing of the past. And, better yet, make it a crime. Two days ago, Robert Reich, former labor secretary for Clinton and present-day professor and writer, called for the elimination of health insurance companies’ exemption from anti-trust laws, which would make it easier to control these outlandish premium increases. It’s a well-reasoned and researched article, which you can read here. www.nytimes.com/2010/02/24/opinion/24reich.html?hp
This article appears in Feb 23 – Mar 1, 2010.
Keep in mind that this summit is much ado about nothing. Technically, the feds should have nothing to do with healthcare. That is lost on the Republicrats.
Why is healthcare expensive? A few different things: De-valued dollar, restrictive regulations determining WHO can provide care to WHOM, laws forcing healthcare providers to provide care — see Medicare and other laws, like the one Reagan signed into law forcing hospitals to take patients regardless of their ability to pay. All of these are federal statutes that should be repealed.
Think of a straight between the healthcare provider and the patient, that is the solution. No government can fix it except by getting out of the way.
GOP introduces their own illegal version of universal healthcare!
http://www.thenewamerican.com/index.php/usnews/congress/3032-house-republicans-call-for-bigger-deficits-than-obama
This is the GOP modus operandi: tax cuts with no corresponding spending cuts..deficit spending!!!
LOL…darn those irresponsible republicrats…
I do keep things in perspective. Ron Paul advocates 100% tax cuts for all healthcare costs and opting out of medicare and social security with the goal of abolishing them, as well as many other ideas for getting the feds out completely. The rest of the GOP advocates more spending and keeping these ponzi schemes going. They do not advocate any real freedom in the healthcare marketplace. The Dems offer forced health insurance. I see the GOP and the Dems as the worst possible solutions and Ron Paul’s as the best. There is no in between.
CREATIVE LOAFING: Please ban Frank Griffin’s IP address from this site. He’s nothing but a hatemonger and liar that brings no credibility or truth to any discussion here.