I got the greatest news from a very unlikely source.  Thoroughly disappointed by the Health Care Bill that Obama finally passed, I was delighted to hear of a Congressional Representative who introduced a bill that would require congress to purchase health care from the companies that are supported by the Health Care Bill.  This is one of those rare moments when I found myself in agreement with a Republican.  So, I went to his site and asked to be kept apprized of his bill’s progress.

Needless to say I was surprised to get an email asking me to help defeat H.R. 5808.  The GOP claim is that it increases “the government welfare state” is simply not true.  What it does is offer a health insurance plan by an entity that does not consider helping you stay healthy as a major expense—something eating away at their profit.

Right up front, it reduces the cost of current health care by a minimum of 30%.  I say minimum because 30% was the health care industry’s average profit before they started raising their rates in anticipation of the Obama bill.  By removing “for profit health insurance companies” and tweaking the focus of health care, we can do a lot to reduce health care’s cost.

We really have no idea how much we will be able to lower cost because we have never really had good health care in this country.   There are huge numbers of people who were and are now currently uninsured.  Because health care is tied to employment in this country, with huge numbers of newly unemployed, there are vast numbers of people who are newly uninsured.  By offering these people affordable health care, we can treat their problems at their inception, in the doctor’s office, instead of waiting until it is a full blown crisis and trying to manage them in the emergency room.  With every one insured, we can also practice preventive medicine.

Hospitals will be able to lower their costs instead of having really, really high prices to cover the costs incurred by patients who are “uninsured.”  So, there are a couple of ways that the cost of health care will come down.  Another way is that doctors can simplify their billing practices (expense) by having a single payer.  This may take a while, as some people will not trust the government to offer good coverage.  But, they will come around.  The health care industry will go away because they will discover that they either have to care for their patients or their stockholders.  They cannot care for both.

So out of the ashes and my despair over the current state of health care, the Public Option rises again.  Call your congressional representation.   Do not be frightened off by the health care industry’s propaganda.  The Public Option is not welfare, it is GOOD SENSE.

July 27, 2010  
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