Health Reform

If you consider the issues that face the United States, we have some that have the potential to weaken the very fabric of our nation. Now, one of the things that makes America great is that we don't all have to agree on anything, but we all normally want to treat each other fairly. There is an ongoing debate between those who oppose Government involvement in just about anything and those who favor Government involvement.

Last night the President gave a speech to a joint session of congress and the nation of his proposal to fix health care in this country. For most Americans, health care is represented by the relationship they have with Doctors, Nurses, Dentists and other providers. They don't much think about the business of health care, until something happens that causes them to bear unexpected costs, either because they lose health coverage or have some other catastrophic event.

For some Americans health care simply is something they either do without or provide to themselves. Now, I'm not talking about those who believe in alternative medicine or holistic approaches. I'm talking about people who are not poor enough or old enough to get Government health care and don't have affordable health care options via their employee or on their own.

These folks are working Americans or small business owners who simply are unable to afford health insurance and gamble that they won't need it until they can afford it. Now, sometimes they win and sometimes they lose. After all, insurance is a gamble by its very nature. You can pay premiums for many years and never use the benefits, or use them much less than average. The real purpose is to provide protection from unusual costs that can not be covered from normal income.

The President proposal basically provides that these people will form a group and because of the size of the group, they will be offered affordable insurance. It will become mandatory for people to have health insurance, similar to auto insurance and there will be a concerted push to eliminate waste from the current system while pushing preventive medicine to further reduce cost.

There are of course other ways to solve the problem we face and there is still time to discuss them. The providing of cheap catastrophic protection is a good idea and should not only be used temporarily, but makes sense as one of the options is an ongoing insurance exchange.

What we do need it honest debate and honest commitment by all Americans to help solve the problem and move forward. We need to assure all Americans have access to health care in an affordable way and we also need to change the cost growth curve. Lets do it.