Letters & Opinion
The pitfalls of John Lee
CNR
I am disappointed with John Lee’s “economic evaluation” of the President’s health care reform program (The Economic Pitfalls of Obamacare, 9.17.09) John Lee ignored the 46 million uninsured, 25 million underinsured (2007 statistic in Schoen et al, Health Affairs, 2008) and the preposterous rise in healthcare costs – all under the auspices of private business.
Any discussion of healthcare reform needs to include those who are uninsured/underinsured, as they are integral to reform. The uninsured/underinsured are a cause of lost productivity in the business community. Workers who are uninsured/underinsured are more prone to miss work due to health-related causes and may come to work sick more often, decreasing productivity. This can lead to higher worker turnover. Worker absenteeism, decreased productivity and training workers all lead to higher costs for employers. Here’s another statistic worth pondering: uninsured working-age Americans have a 40 percent higher risk of death than their privately-insured counterparts (Wilper et al., American Journal of Public Health, Dec. 2009).
Over the last 10 years, health care premiums have risen 131% (San Francisco Chronicle, Sept 16, 2009). That’s no misprint. If I recollect, a primary reason for privatization of healthcare was to reduce the rising costs.
And who pays the hospital costs of the uninsured/underinsured who go to emergency rooms for their healthcare? You and I.
An overhaul of our decrepit healthcare system is needed and government intervention is necessary because of the mismanagement of our healthcare by private industry. As for John Lees’s notion of “chipping away at capitalism” if the government controls healthcare, I propose John start advocating the abolition of Medicaid, Medicare, WIC and Social Security benefits, as well as numerous other similar socialist programs lest we become a Bolshevik nation like Germany, Norway, England, Canada and Japan, to name just a few.
As for John Lee’s concern about the impediment of competition due to government involvement in healthcare, I too am concerned about maintaining a competitive business environment. I suggest John further opine about the pharmaceutical industry’s accomplishment in reducing competition by successfully lobbying Congress to prohibit purchases of lower cost Canadian medical drugs. Americans have become a captive audience to the U.S. pharmaceutical industry by being forced to buy the highest cost drugs in the developed world – an integral factor in our high healthcare costs. Allowing purchases of Canadian (and similarly Australian) drugs, would increase competition within the business community – and promote private enterprise.
