One of the remarkable failures of our time is our inability to
establish affordable healthcare. Healthcare costs continue to
devastate families, hinder government and constrain good
businesses.
One of the remarkable failures of our time is our inability to establish affordable healthcare. Healthcare costs continue to devastate families, hinder government and constrain good businesses. Healthcare costs account for 68 percent of all personal bankruptcies. The system is in disarray. Administrative costs should be less than 13 percent but are over 30 percent. From 1998 to 2002 healthcare costs rose 95 percent as noted by the Kaiser Foundation. In a recent study, health care is to double in the next seven years.
We believe the market will control cost, but how many of us in the midst of a heart attack will conduct a cost comparison for a hospital? The point being, we often have little choice and when we do choose, it’s for no health care at all. Forty-five million Americans are without healthcare. When they do need it, they are usually very sick, should have come in weeks ago and now have complications. The visit is expensive and one usually gets stuck with the cost of a $15 cotton swab among other over inflated items. The people who can least afford it pay the most and costs continue to rise affecting all of us.
Case in point, last Oct. 18, I went into emergency at Saint Louise Regional Hospital in Gilroy. I had a fever and a swollen node in my neck, and some stomach pain. The good doctors put me thorough a series of tests including a scan. Three hours later I was home with antibiotics and Tylenol. I was not admitted and all is well. Cost for the visit, $12,677.74. Did I have a choice? No. Was I given an itemize listing of the cost of each procedure? No. Insurance paid for most of it, but what about those who don’t have insurance? How could they ever pay for such a visit? Bottom line, they can’t.
You may wonder who the uninsured are. They are single parents with children, college students, part-time employees, those unemployed and young professionals and entrepreneurs whose youth or economics fools them into thinking that they don’t need it until an accident, or an illness brings them or their family to emergency. Then there are those with diabetes and other illnesses who can’t get care at all. No one in this State should be deprived of health care because of the inefficient manner in which health care is administered. It is time we changed all of this.
Very soon we will have an opportunity to make a difference, to move away from self interest in the interest of us all. State Senator Kuehl has reintroduced SB 840 – the universal health care bill. It does what the Governor’s effort won’t. His bill limits employer contributions to percent. That will guarantee that the bulk of the cost will be born by employees. It also requires assistance from the federal government for which is no guarantee of support. Senator Kuehl’s bill, cosponsored by Assemblyman John Laird will consolidate health care insurance in California and make it affordable for all of us, reducing costs per family from $300 to $3,000 per year on average. It gives us a full and inclusive choice of doctors, providing full health coverage for all of us for life. We will have access to prescriptions drugs at a drastically reduced cost. Pre-existing conditions will be covered, and even if you lose or change your job, you are still covered.
Employers will also like it for insurance premiums will be based on payroll, making the playing field between big and small business finally the same. It will also remove a growing and contentious issue between labor and management. State and local government, including City employees and residents in Morgan Hill will also benefit from reduce costs leading to potentially new services and/or lower taxes/fees for which we will all benefit. By developing a single non-profit organization to manage costs, we become so much more efficient in delivering health care services. It is estimated that we could save well over 340 billion in 10 years time.
It is time we start thinking about all of us; youngsters, oldsters and everyone in between. This is an extraordinary opportunity to provide the healthcare we all need. No more worries about a catastrophic illness that will take your home away, steal your life savings and making you homeless and indigent. It time we start thinking about all of us, to make this a better place and to and fulfill the promise a generation.
On April 04, 2007, I asked our Morgan Hill City Council to join more than 400 cities, counties and other agencies to endorse SB 840, the single payer plan. Â
Please go on-line to http://www.onecarenow.org/index.html for more information on how we can bring healthcare and healthcare relief to all Californians.
Mark Grzan is a 13-year Morgan Hill resident. He’s been serving on the Morgan Hill City Council for two years. He’s a computer applications teacher at Gavilan and Foothill colleges and an administrator at San Jose State University. Reach him at
mg*******@ch*****.net
.
