By Arthur Richter
August 4, 2005
The recent “my view” charging that adopting universal health care will bankrupt America (July 6) cannot go unanswered. Our existing privatized health care delivery system is experiencing continued escalation of premiums and cost shifting by providers and employers. We expend twice as much per capita as other industrialized countries, with poorer health outcomes, such as life expectancies and infant mortality.
Health premiums are escalating at a faster rate than health- care costs, therein benefiting the insurance industry to the extent that it is able through its lobbying and campaign contributions, to expend, at a national and state level, hundreds of millions of dollars in buying or renting some of our legislators. And its largesse is not limited to any one political party. The recently enacted Medicare Modernization Act is a blatant example of the power of the insurance and pharmaceutical lobbies in their effort to privatize our Medicare system.
In the past, Medicare was able to deliver its services with a less than 3 percent overhead, as compared to our “free market” for profit system with its overhead of 15 to 30 percent. In passing the legislation in a most dubious fashion and claiming at the time of passage that it would cost less than $400 billion over 10 years, its now estimated to cost over $800 billion and now with the intention of passing the cost of this “benefit” to the states.
Any federal legislator who voted for this legislation clearly does not deserve reelection. A simple search of the campaign contributions made to these legislators will explain their votes.
Comparing the Canadian system to ours is valid, and that their system has some shortcomings is acknowledged. These shortcomings are addressed in the Romanov report, issued in 2003, with the recommendation to increase its health care expenditures to mitigate the wait times that some of its residents have experienced. However, even with some of their systemic warts, Canadian citizens experience life spans 2Ā½ years longer than U.S. residents and they expend half as much per capita.
Our systemic shortfalls are gigantic and, compared to their “warts,” we may well call our system “cancerous.” We have 45 million uninsured and an equally large number underinsured. We have family and friends who are the users and beneficiaries of the Canadian system, and they are well aware of our system and they turn thumbs down on what we have here.
We would do well to implement a “Medicare for all” system and curb the parasitic insurance and drug industries and their corrupting influence and rid ourselves of those “compliant” legislators. We have the technology and the resources, but our health delivery system is exploited, distorted, unfair and very inefficient. Let’s wise up.
Arthur Richter is co-chairman of Citizens for Universal Healthcare, in Kingston.