I am more and more disturbed by the shenanigans of the U.S. Congress. The recent vote on health care repeal is a good example of wasted time and cost. It was a known non-starter, but also was a political necessity, but it was a waste.
Making things worse are the court actions that are challenging, not the concept of health care, but the Constitutionality of one of the ways included in the act to help minimize cost. Interestingly enough, there is almost no mention of the concept of health care included in the actions. Seems to indicate that some states feel they will lose if the act is fully implemented whether the result of insurance and medical lobbies or the differences between the way the different states operate.
You”d think that health care at minimum cost would have some influence. And now we are told that repeal will add many, many billions of dollars to the deficit. The vision of heads in armpits comes to mind.
To me, there is no question that the act as it stands, needs fine-tuning. The first item in priority probably should be a definitive statement of national policy concerning the nature of health care. Is it the policy of the country to provide health care to all residents? Is health care a right or a privilege? And who is to pay the bills? Brings up the need to define resident and health care and the need to define care priority and eligibility for care. Not to mention the horrendous decision if the policy is not to provide care to some. Who is to tell those not eligible they have no right to treatment? Polls show that two of the most favored parts of the act are the removal of payment caps and the removal of prior condition restrictions. To say nothing of the overwhelming approval of the concept of simple health care!
It would be nice, too, for Congress to at least explain why its coverage is so much better than what it proposes for the rest of us.
About this time the country has to face the fact that the amount of funding for health care is finite unless we add to national income for the purpose or move funding from some other area as defense.
With respect to Medicare, as people grow older medical technology becomes more expensive and medical care becomes more costly, we had better become reconciled to treatment limitations based on potential effectiveness, elimination of voluntary and other wanted, but not needed surgeries, increasing use of pain medication and hospice-like approaches for terminal patients, recognition that self-termination should be an available and less expensive option. Approaching death consultations would prepare people to face up to reality.
Thankfully many gerontology specialists currently do this.
Perhaps it is time for the rest of us to start leaning harder on Congress. Oops, forgot. They are sharpening their swords for the income, spending, deficit, smaller government, unemployment discussions to come?the budget.
Guthrie “Guff” Worth
Lakeport
