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Thursday, April 5, 2007
Health Care Forum...
by John Morgan,
The Pennsylvania
Progressive...
The healthcare forum at
F&M [on April 4, 2007] was very well attended. So many people came
several additional rows of chairs were set out and something between
250-300 folks watched the presentations. PCN was there to record the
event for televising and media cameras surrounded the edges of the
large room. Two doctors, Tom Gates and Mike Baxter began the program
by detailing the problems of the uninsured, underinsured and
underserved.
One of the major problems
outlined by the medical professionals is the lack of primary care
physicians and they reiterated this fact throughout the evening. The
lack of primary care and access to primary care is a serious issue and
needs to be addressed. Other speakers told of dealing with the current
system and discussed how they cope with what's become a broken system
of health care delivery in this country.
Dr. Chuck Pennacchio spoke
about HELP Fund PA, a non profit organization formed to bring a system
of comprehensive, universal health care to Pennsylvania through a
single payer system (disclosure: I am affiliated with this
organization). Senate Bill 300 would replace the health insurance
companies, responsible for swallowing 25% of our healthcare
expenditures, with a state agency as a single payer entity. This could
reduce overhead by 20%, enabling everyone to be covered by quality
care.
Governor Rendell then
discussed his plan "Prescription for Pennsylvania" which would require
every resident of the state to purchase health insurance. A question
and answer session followed this and the Governor took every question
until he left and the microphone was made available to the other
participants. Some challenged various factors of the Governor's plan.
For instance reducing trips to emergency rooms by covered insureds
would seriously hurt hospitals cash flow making it harder for them to
treat indigent patients. The point was made that those are visits for
which these institutions actual make the profit required to offset
those unable to pay for their treatment.
One question had to do
with farmers and migrant workers. The Family and Business Healthcare
Security Act would cover them as it would all healthcare concerns,
including prescription drugs. Rendell's plan only offers basic,
limited coverage. Several questions had to do with problems in Canada
and Britain with their socialized medicine. It was explained that the
proposal here is not socialized medicine because, though it's publicly
funded, all healthcare remains privately delivered. No doctors, nurses
or other healthcare providers would be employed by the government.
They remain in private practice.
The single payer plan
would be financed by a 10% payroll tax, an amount less than (and
considerably less than) most employers currently pay and would enable
better business competitiveness and forecasting than today's system
which is causing us to hemorrhage jobs. Individuals would pay a 3%
personal income tax in lieu of premiums. All funds are collected by
the state agency and disbursed to doctors and providers in a simple,
cost effective and timely manner.
Ask anyone who has
suffered through a serious health care problem what it's like dealing
with insurance companies and you'll receive an earful. I know of no
one without a horror story. I have my own. The problem with insurance
companies is that they exist to make a profit not to pay your medical
bills. Their primary legal obligation as a business is making money
for their owners and shareholders. This is why they routinely deny
claims, make insureds run through hoops, delay payments to medical
practitioners, and cause a huge caseload of lawsuits in our court
system because insureds must sue them to collect their entitled
benefits.
Even the so-called non
profits aren't really that. Have you looked at their balance sheets
and their cash reserves? The only thing that makes the Blues
non-profit is their ability not to have to pay taxes on their income.
Highmark just agreed to a deal with Penn State where they will
contribute $25 million for projects in return for health care
coverage. This doesn't sound like a non-profit business to me. Now the
two largest Blues in Pennsylvania want to merge giving them 53% of the
state's business.
The Governor stated that
the political environment isn't there to pass a single payer bill in
Pennsylvania. He also, mistakenly (see below), said no single payer
bill has passed in the country. California did pass a bill however
that was vetoed by Ahhhnold. It is possible to pass such a bill if we
had a Governor willing to give it more than lip service. If Rendell
put his weight and influence behind the single payer bill and took the
issue to the people we could combine to get it through the
legislature. There is great support there for such a bill but the
Governor is actually opposing the bill with state Representatives and
Senators. He's actually pressuring people not to sponsor the bill.
This is beyond being disingenuous. This is saying one thing while
actively doing the opposite, ala George W. Bush.
What can you do? Go to
HELP Fund PA's website and contribute for the effort to pass this
bill then contact your Representative and Senator and ask them to
support this bill. Then
contact the Governor and ask why he says he supports single payer
but opposes it in the Capitol. Ask him why he said it hasn't passed
anywhere else when it has. Ask the Governor why he won't finance a
study comparing the two bills so we can better determine which is
better for Pennsylvanians?
Comments:
After attending the health
care forum at F&M I came away with mixed emotions. One side of me
likes the single payer plan, Help Fund Pa. of Dr. Pennacchio. The Idea
of cutting insurance companies out of the health care system agrees
with me. But Dr. Pennacchio's panel did not address the reforms our
medical professionals need to make so it is cost effective too. Just
throwing more money at the same broken system wont work. Governor
Rendell's plan, Prescription for Pennsylvania addresses the reforms
long needed in our medical system but still leaves the insurance
industries foot in the door. More people covered by his plan and lower
Medical costs mean higher profits for the insurance industry. But this
is the best deal the Governor can cut for us with conditions as they
are in the Harrisburg and the Legislature.
Bruce Slater, Narvon Pa. |
