PEA RIDGE — The television commercials about the “Healthcare Reform Bill” are less frequent at this writing, but I’m sure they will pick up again as the Senate nears a meaningful vote on the issue. We should be able to say something dramatic such as “the debate rages on,” but unfortunately that is not the case. From my limited knowledge of the real political process, it is probably more of a case of the “arm twisting” goes on in the back rooms, no less, and the compromises made to special interests are hidden in the carefullyphrased wording of the thousands of pages.

As I have expressed previously, we have recently been beneficiaries of our socialized (government funded) medical care system known universally as Medicare. The system is expensive primarily due to fraud and waste, but if you need medical services, it is a near ideal system to be covered under. What the actual cost would be if adequate controls were in place to eliminate all fraud and to protect the doctors so they didn’t feel compelled to run unnecessary tests, we will never know. It is a government run program and that automatically makes it a target for every type of fraudulent billing so far created. And, that is tragic because it saysas much about human character as our current state of secretive political debate says about our elected governmental leaders.

When the average personon the street is unable to correctly interpret some of our legislation (or maybe all of it if we apply the word correctly) how can we vote for the legislators who allow it to happen?

It appears to me this is an intentional attempt to confuse the voting public by misrepresenting the facts and the effects of the legislation. And, of course we have the lobbyists from AARP, the drug industry, the insurance companies, the medical profession and all the other special interest groups stressing a single point in classy ads run on television and/or glossy magazines. It has amazed me at the number of television commercials encouraging me to call Senators Lincoln and Pryor asking them to do what the commercial emphasizes - and thus I would be responsible for supporting the point inthe ad. The truth is I don’t understand the details of the Reform Bill, so how in heaven’s name can I tell the senators how to vote?

As detailed as the 2,000 plus-page bill appears to be on the surface, I doubt the senators understand the true consequences of the proposal themselves. And, then we have to add to those problems the potential amendments and hidden special situations thatwill not be revealed until long after the bill becomes law.

The points of contention seem to be of lesser concern to the legislators than to me if they are so willing to support the bill even knowing that most Americans apparently don’t favor the legislation as they (the general population) understand it. The news media has made Sen. Lincoln’s voting decision on this issue a national joke. Trying to appease both sides on the vote to allow debate on the bill may be correct politically, but it is classic Washington two-step politics. I’m just too simple to understand how we can benefit from this type of legislative behavior.

It appears to me that the method the previous Congressional groups have used to sell us on government-run programs has left a lot of doubt in the minds of my generation. We who have lived long enough to observe the long-term effects, understand that government estimates of costs for any program are not to be trusted. They are probably correct the day they are prepared, based on circumstances given for the study, but the circumstances can quickly be altered by subsequent legislative “manipulation.” If you accept the fact that there are too many people/ companies/entities profiting from anything our government is involved in, the only course of action that seems reasonable to me would be to reduce thegovernment involvement.

How can the president announce to the world that the drug companies are going to help in the reform program to the tune of billions of dollars at the same time the general increase in prescription drugs goes up by 9 percent?

Because we have been blessed to see Medicare work, I would like my children and grandchildren to have that same benefit - whether a private or government program. The cost of any program, however, must be understood by both the user and the provider. In industry, 25 years ago, our healthcare costs increased far faster than our profits or sales increased. The net result was an actual loss in buying power to the employees, because inflation in general took away most of the hourly wage increasesbefore the healthcare costs hit their pocketbooks. It is impossible for me to see how a program that guarantees everyone coverage regardless of previous or current health problems can cost less than our current system.

I am saddened at the situation we find our nation facing. Our indebtedness to foreign countries to maintain our lifestyle will affect our nation’s economy into my grandchildren’s adulthood. We have taken too much for granted as we have allowed our industrial leadership to be exported in favor of cheap products that we probably would be a healthier society without.

Opinion, Pages 4 on 12/02/2009