HEALTH CARE IMPROVEMENTS
April 26, 2002 - WAR REPORT NUMBER 17-2002
This is the last of two WAR Reports on this subject. Should you accept OP-Eds as gospel truths? I think not. Why? Read on.

To illustrate, I refer to an op-ed by Paul Krugman titled "Bad Medicine" in the march 19, 2002, edition of The New York Times. The author is alerting the readers to a return of the health care crisis and offers his solution -- more government funds. You will note that when people in the private sector discover a project involving hundreds or even billions of dollars cannot work, they shut it down to cut their loses. In government, no one will admit they made an error and their solution is always the same -- add more money -- your taxes.

The author continues and asks, "Why don't we leave medical care up to individuals?" His opposition is unique to me when he says, basically, that even in the United States there are limits to how much inequality the public is prepared to tolerate. It's one thing if the rich can afford bigger houses or fancier vacations than ordinary families; Americans accept such differences cheerfully. But a society in which the rich people get their medical problems solved while ordinary people die from them, it's too harsh even for us. To support his position, Krugman cites our current problems with two programs: Medicare and Medicaid. He writes that the public overwhelmingly supports the extension of Medicare to include prescription drugs; it seems wrong to most Americans that drugs that make a big difference to peoples' lives should be available only to those wealthy enough to pay for them out of pocket. Including drug coverage in Medicare is not so much a matter of extending the program as of remaining true to its original intent. (Where did that come from?)

I cannot accept the author's position on inequality and the public's tolerance is difficult for me to accept. In the United States, hard work and dedication of purpose is a tradition that bears fruit. Many of our wealthy people in private or political life had humble beginnings. They serve as role models that many aspire to follow.

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

God Bless America.