The American health care system is not broken, so don't throw it away in the name of change!

85% of Americans have health care benefits and access to the best health care in the world.

15% of Americans are uninsured for a great number of reasons, so of which will never be resolved. Many of these Americans still, however, have access to care.

Our costs are too high. Administrative complexity is too great. Some people in need fall through the cracks.

Should we try to improve the system? YES! Should we throw it all away and cede over $2 Trillion of the economy to ideological control in the Federal government? NO!

"The devil is in the details", and there is a lot not to like in the current House reform bill, H.R. 3200. Don't just take my word for it. Read it and weep.

46.3 million without health insurance in 2008

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the number of people without health insurance coverage rose from 45.7 million in 2007 to 46.3 million in 2008, while the percentage remained unchanged at 15.4 percent. Among survey findings: The number of people with health insurance increased from 253.4 million in 2007 to 255.1 million in 2008. Between 2007 and 2008, the number of people covered by private health insurance decreased from 202.0 million to 201.0 million, while the number covered by government health insurance climbed from 83.0 million to 87.4 million. The number covered by employment-based health insurance declined from 177.4 million to 176.3 million. The number of uninsured children declined from 8.1 million (11.0 percent) in 2007 to 7.3 million (9.9 percent) in 2008. Both the uninsured rate and number of uninsured children are the lowest since 1987, the first year that comparable health insurance data were collected. Although the uninsured rate for children in poverty declined from 17.6 percent in 2007 to 15.7 percent in 2008, children in poverty were more likely to be uninsured than all children. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2008. September 2009. http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/income_wealth/014227.html

What are we getting ourselves into?

An approach to health care reform continues to be discussed in the hallowed halls of Congress, and the primary House Bill has >1000 pages of bureaucracy, policy and sweeping changes. The challenge is to be aware of what is being proposed and to speak with an informed voice. Read the Health Care Reform Act (H.R. 3200)! I did, and I'll share some observations in future posts.

Based on a current poll, public opinion does not support health care reform as it is currently being discussed.

Poll:
Do you think the Medicare program for seniors would be better off or worse off if the president and Congress passed health care reform, or don't you think it would make much difference?

42% of people under 65 years of age think that Medicare would be better off, while only 20% of Seniors aged 65+ believe that to be the case. Of the 58%/80% who don't believe things would improve, nearly 30% of those under 65 and almost 40% of those 65+ believe that the Medicare program would be worse off.

Source: Kaiser Family Foundation Health Tracking Poll (conducted August 4-11, 2009)