Wraps Up How I Feel About the Health Care Issue

[Aquila]

Originally Posted by rgcraig

A letter to the Editor in Jackson, MS

Dear Sirs:

During my last night's shift in the ER, I had the pleasure of evaluating a patient with a shiny new gold tooth, multiple elaborate tattoos, a very expensive brand of tennis shoes and a new cellular telephone equipped with her favorite R&B tune for a ringtone. Glancing over the chart, one could not help noticing her payer status: Medicaid.

She smokes more than one costly pack of cigarettes every day and, somehow, still has money to buy beer.

And our Congress expects me to pay for this woman's health care? Our nation's health care crisis is not a shortage of quality hospitals, doctors or nurses.

It is a crisis of culture — a culture in which it is perfectly acceptable to spend money on vices while refusing to take care of one's self or, heaven forbid, purchase health insurance.

A culture that thinks "I can do whatever I want to because someone else will always take care of me".

Life is really not that hard. Most of us reap what we sow.

Don't you agree?

STARNER JONES, MD
Jackson , MS

That's certainly a sad state of affairs. But the truth is we are paying for those who don't have insurance one way or another. Either we pay for it directly through taxation and programs or we pay for it in higher health insurance premiums.

You see... when the uninsured go to the ER and don't pay their bills that's a loss. To cover that loss health care providers raise the cost of health care. When the cost of health care goes up the insurance companies raise premiums to cover that increased cost. When insurance premiums go up more people opt out of insurance...which means there will be more uninsured going to ERs and not paying their bills and the cycle continues. Of course, the providers and insurance companies increase their costs with a profit margin.

So the question becomes... which method is the least expensive? Higher and higher premiums or basement premiums and higher taxes? Interestingly, those who work middle class jobs but don't have insurance will pay towards their own insurance in increase taxes.

Here's the deal... the lady with the gold tooth is getting a free ride. She pays NOTHING. Not even higher taxes for her care. She doesn't pay her bills and so YOUR premiums go up. At least with a national health insurance program many, if not most, of the currently uninsured will be paying SOMETHING toward their health care. This will bring YOUR premiums down.