HEALTH CARE IMPROVEMENTS
January 25, 2002 - WAR REPORT NUMBER 4-2002
What will it take for politicians to wake up and realize that the patient holds the answer to the financing of our health care system? Maybe the work of respected reporters like David S. Broder, a syndicated columnist could help. Broder wrote an op-ed piece entitled "Fix Health Care Now" in the January 6, 2002, edition of The Washington Post.

Broder says that the picture laid out for him by the President and Research
Director of the National Coalition on Health Care, a bipartisan organization, was not a pretty one. Their phrase for it is borrowed from the bestseller, The Perfect Storm: "a confluence of forces, each worrisome in itself but together posing a lethal threat." He cites five of these forces:

The first is the rapid and accelerating rise in cost of private health insurance. New premiums rose 8 percent in 2000, 11 percent in 2001 and are expected to jump 15 percent this year.

The second element is the squeeze on the two largest public programs, Medicare and Medicaid.
Third, the recession has hammered both large and small businesses, forcing them to trim or eliminate health benefits.

Fourth, as President Bush has acknowledged. The anthrax scare and threats of other forms of bioterrorism will require heavy new investments in public health system, further straining financial resources.

Finally, finding a solution to these problems is complicated by the strong differences between the parties on the right approach. The economic stimulus debate ended in deadlock and inaction last month, largely because the Republicans and Democrats could not agree on how to provide temporary health insurance to laid-off workers.

This illustrates the difference between the private sector and the government. When a program in the private sector is failing, the managers are quick to shut the it down to cut their loses. The managers in government, on the other hand, are reluctant to admit they made a mistake. Their solution is always to provide more money--your taxes. Compromise with the Democrats is their way or the highway.

Stay tuned! Why? Because I tell it like it is and it's your money. GOD BLESS AMERICA.