I wish I could say I was pleased with the health care reform business and the course of action being pursued (or wooed might be a more accurate term) in Congress. I have often used the old saw to describe the proceedings for health reform: the definition of a camel---a horse designed by a committee. If the health reform bill squeaks through by reconciliation, it will still be something of a camel.
I'm all for doing on a local level what can be done efficiently. I don't love layers of federal commissions and watch dogs, but for certain functions federal supervision is needed. Watching those sly dogs in the insurance business is one such area requiring federal supervision.
But even a camel is better than nothing at all. I'm simply afraid that if we reject this opportunity to repair our ailing health system, it will be years before another attempt is made. We need to extend coverage to the millions of uninsured. We do need to find a way to retard the escalating cost of medical care which should include tort reform. Let's face it, one of the major items in the escalation of medical costs is the premium doctors pay for malpractice insurance to cover their asses in the event of a law suit. Congress keeps ducking tort reform, probably because most of them are lawyers, but, until some caps are put on injury/negligence suits, the problem intensifies.
At this point in time, reconciliation of political differences seems impossible. Too many positions are set in concrete. No national health system is perfect anywhere in the world, but efforts can be made as time and reason dictate to make repairs to the system and try to improve it.
Let's get a plan. In time perhaps a bipartisan committee, after the plan has been in effect for some time and political hotheads have cooled, can study and make recommendations for needed changes. I still get hung up that the number one power in the industrialized world is the only nation without a health system. Something is better than nothing.
The clock is ticking.
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