The Health Care Debate

President Obama's White House and the United States Congress led by the Democratic Party believe they have a once in a generation opportunity to create a universal or close to universal health care system in the United States. The U.S. Congress has just adjourned for its summer recess so the members can go home and listen to views of their constituents on the health debate, or perhaps take an overseas junket.

There are many emotional issues that are tied to health care. The broad health care market represents a significant percentage of our nation's GDP. Health care is a very complex and sensitive area where there are no absolute right or wrong answers but there are issues that must be taken into account when formulating national policy. Let's review some of those issues.

Medicare, which is a huge government program for senior citizens over 65 years of age, has unfunded future liabilities of over $40 Trillion. The estimate for future liabilities is generally accepted as correct by the experts in the field. This huge spending requirement is driven by the baby boom generation moving into old age in the decades ahead. The level of care currently provided by Medicare is simply unaffordable in the future. Health care services for seniors that are provided by the government must be made much more cost effective and substantially reduced in scope. This is an unavoidable fact of life. This is a tough emotional issue for many people but hard decisions must be made to descope Medicare by the political bodies that created Medicare and manage Medicare benefits.

One of the major objectives of health care reform is to create universal health care. There are an estimated 40 million citizens that currently don't have any form of health care insurance in the United States today. The goal of Obama and company is to provide a level of health insurance for everyone. One of the big issues is the cost of covering everyone with a government offered program. No new government program will add supply to the health care industry in the near term but a new program will create new demand. Therefore the new demand created by the government's program will likely cause an increase in health care prices for everyone in addition to the cost of the program itself. This is basic economics. It would be helpful if the government would acknowledge this basic fact. With our government looking at massive deficits for the foreseeable future the financial impact of universal health care is a big negative. A universal health care program simply can't be implemented until Medicare is completely revamped to reduce its cost and the funding sources for a new more inclusive health care insurance system are fully defined.

Some in Congress want a single payer system where the US Government becomes the health care provider for everyone. Does anyone really believe that the US government can manage a program effectively that has such a major impact on our lives? I don't believe the United States government can manage any mass program effectively. History tells us that government programs simply cost more and are less effective than advertised when they are created. Other countries have single payer programs that appear to create rationing of health care services and their systems are unresponsive to the medical needs of their citizens. Everyone is covered - poorly. From my perspective this idea is dead on arrival.

There is no doubt that the overhead costs created by private insurance companies are contributing to the inflation in health care costs. We need to find ways to reduce the overhead created by insurance companies. There is no doubt that the lawsuits by patients against health care providers has created huge liabilities for insurance companies that must be paid for by health care users through increased health insurance premiums. Every financial settlement that a patient receives and the cost of litigation is ultimately paid for by other health care system users. The legal system is out of control and we need tort reform to clean up inappropriate law suits, while protecting those people that have a truly legitimate case against their health care providers.

There has been a lot of discussion about making the health care system more efficient. Based on my own family experiences I believe the key to efficiency is having an electronic data base of an individual's health care records so that all of the medical professionals serving that person have access to the total medical picture. This will permit the elimination of duplicate testing and provide greater consistency of care within the health care community. Many people object to a system of this type based on privacy concerns. My view is that if the government is paying the bill through Medicare or any other universal government paid system the patient must participate in an electronic records system as a condition of receiving services.

There are many, many details related to this issue. If our political leaders can deal with the big picture issues discussed above in an effective manner, I am willing to listen to their ideas. However, if these issues are not addressed effectively, the Congress should drop the overall debate and focus only on Medicare reform. We don't want new government programs that simply add to our national deficit and add nothing of value to our nation's quality of life.