Lynch Pen We need a fresh, new vision in government

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

— The healthcare saga continues along with the seemingly endless stream of rhetoric. It appears that almost anyone who has an opinion on the subject can find some television camera person to share their views either pro or con. So many of the arguments either for or against any part of the proposed bills are valid it reminds me of the statement "there's a little truth in (almost) every lie."

The president made a very impressive speech before the joint members of Congress on Wednesday. At some points I couldn't help wondering if I was hearing desperation or frustration as it was apparent to anyone watching the speech on television that not all of the members of Congress are buying his proposal. Everyone, including the president, seems to agree that about 80 percent of the ideas presented are acceptable to the greater majority. Two things that are not part of that 80 percent apparently lie in the questions of a government option and tort reform to reduce frivolous law suits.

My recent experience in the hospital has been an education about healthcare under Medicare and no one will be able to convince me we don't have the best healthcare available righthere in northwest Arkansas.

The care was, and continues to be, excellent. It is highly probable, however, that the concern to be very careful and not overlook any potential problem probably leads to some "extra" tests to avoid any possibility of malpractice if they miss something. I know from industry there is a point at which it is less expensive to settle a lawsuit for some amount rather than go to court even if it is without merit. Lawyers know the specifics of these cases before they get involved and the doctors' insurance carriers know what it costs them to deal with the individual situations. There should be something done to reduce the unwarranted cases and penalize those who bring the frivolous suits to keep costs reasonable if actual healthcare reform is to take place.

The thing that is most frustrating to me is the use of Social Security and Medicare as examples of both how successful government sponsored programs can be and how they areinefficient, expensive and lead to excessive waste of tax revenue. The disgusting point of this to me is the same governmental body which initiated these programs - Congress followed by presidential endorsement - is the same body that down the road a few years later has contributed to the very faults they are finding with the programs. In some way we as American citizens need to force turnover in our governmental bodies so new senators and representatives can look at existing needs with fresh eyes and without being beholding to the wellheeled lobbyists that pull the strings of some of our puppet legislatures.

President Obama had some interesting ideas in his "government proposal." The funding for his program got my attention because one of his sources for funding was by charging "fees" to the insurance companies for writing "higher priced" policies.

Who exactly is going to be paying any fees? The insurance company is not a notfor-profit corporation so the consumer is going to be hit with the extra cost as part of the premium. Apparently all the questions are covered (carefully covered) under the statement he made when he said "there are still significant details to be ironedout." That sounds like one gigantic loophole to a novice in the political arena like me.

I have listened with interest to all this debate and question what the next generations are going to have left after our seniors are gone. Social Security was implemented during my parents' generation and both their generation and mine have benefited from it. In fact, we were blessed to have it in our retirement years which might not have been "retirement years" but prolonged work years without it. The same holds true for Medicare, which came about in my generation and is the only way I can afford the healthcare to which I alluded earlier. However, the future of both of these programs is at risk because we have allowed our excesses to overwhelm common sense in government spending.

If we are going to have true healthcare reform, or a government option of any kind, we as the citizens are going to have to get involved. That means going back to our basic value system of government expenditures, balancing budgets and getting serious about what we want America to be 25 or 50 years from now. The policies of China are not those which I want to leave to my future generations.

Opinion, Pages 4 on 09/16/2009