HEALTH CARE "REFORM"

Health care reform.  Socialized medicine.  Universal Health care.  Mandatory Health Insurance.

I am sure their may be dozens of other names for it but it all is meant to do the same thing.  Fix our broken health care system in the United States.

Now this is where it get tricky.  I just said that the system is broken.  Now I can find you many people that do not think it is broken.  They will say that a little tweaking here and their and it would be fixed.

Then you have people like me who think that it is really broken and we need major overhaul.  

Then I can find people that will say the hell with the overhaul.  Scrap the whole thing and start over.  The hydrogen bomb solution.

The opponents of reform are using "small business" as the fall guy.  We will have no more small business if they have to pay an increase in taxes or help pay for health insurance for their employees.  

Will it be a burden for them.  I am sure it will. It will be more for some.

The real question is what will their burden be if we do not reform the system.  When companies can no longer afford to kick in for their employes.  Right now we are seeing some of that with the auto companies.  Yes they have made many mistakes in how they make car and how they sell cars but I contend their biggest mistake was in the late 40's when Walter Ruther, then president of the UAW, suggested that the UAW and the car companies go to Washington hand in hand and fight for Universal Health care.  They thought that was to much like socialism.  They were big enough they could handle it.  I bet they would like that one back today.

I have no idea on how to fix it and have even less of an idea on how many ways that it is broken. But here is a couple of things that I have observed over the last couple of years.

Valet Parking at the hospital.  I am sure it is not a big part of the budget but we still have to pay for it.

End of life care.  I saw this with my mother several years ago.  Keeping her in the intensive care unit until she passed away.  Doing procedures that would have kept her alive longer.  She was not going to get better the outcome was not going to change.  Just would have been a higher charge sent to MediCare.  

Recently I had an ultra sound done on a leg.  I had knee pain.  The doctor ordered X-rays for the knee.  He was sure that my problem was with the knee but just to make sure he ordered ultra sound of the leg to make sure I did not have blood clots.  Was that a needed test.  I doubt it as I told him I have had this pain for several years.  Did my insurance pay for it?  Yes.  Here is extra cost we all pay for.

So lets us figure out how bad it is broken or at least that it is broken so that we can get on with fixing it and fixing our economy.