The Gazette-Enterprise

Hopefully, the screaming and shouting about health care is over and Congress can get down to the real problem, the cost of health care.

I am not sure that even one town hall meeting accomplished anything except letting a bunch of people espouse their lack of knowledge of what is facing America.

Some people have managed to convince a lot of others that there are proposals in bills that aren’t there. Others are suggesting that their proposals that will lead us down some slippery slope to drastic ends. What is missing is a discussion of the real problems. For those conservatives who have been screaming and shouting at town hall meeting, they should look at their own congressional districts to see where the district stands nationwide when it comes to insured people.

If conservatives truly believe in local government, they should analyze how many are uninsured in their own local area. It will probably be a shock since most of the screaming and shouting has been about the national government and not the need for reform in health care costs.

Living in Texas, I am aware that there are a large number of unauthorized immigrants, but even considering that, Texas still ranks low. According to polls, not one congressional district in the State of Texas ranks in the top half of people insured in their districts. According to the poll, even the districts with low numbers of unauthorized immigrants still do not compare favorably with comparable districts elsewhere in the United States. Congressional districts in Texas rank from being the first in uninsured residents to 124th among the 435 Congressional districts in the United States. The best still has 18.3 percent uninsured residents.

Truly, no state wants to be rated this low. It is time that we stop thinking state pride and considering the “slippery slope” arguments and begin looking at the humanitarian side of health care costs. There is much we don’t know about the costs and more importantly, for those of us who have insurance, we really don’t know what or how much is covered. Many people think they have total coverage and find out too late that there is much that is not.

Yes, your doctor can recommend procedures, but often he or she must consult with your insurance provider for authorization to continue. What happens when the procedure is denied? In addition to the denial, what other aspects of your insurance do you not know? How often do we see notices in our local newspapers about blood drives that will raise money for a person whose insurance did not cover blood transfusions? How often do those drives cover the medical costs for an emergency that was not covered?

Health care in the United States is expensive, and there is the humanitarian argument about right versus privilege. I believe that health care is a right as I think most people do. We have the best “repair” medicine in the world; there is no doubt about that. What we lack is preventative care. That is not the fault of the primary care physicians. They are good, but they can only do so much in a work day. We are paying for health care because others either do not have access to primary care or they cannot afford insurance. Consequently, the emergency room of the local hospital becomes the waiting room for an illness that has become too serious.

It is estimated that health care costs will consume a third of our domestic national production in the near future. We need to stop listening to the scare tactics of some entertainers and some Congressional people and look at reality. Socialized medicine, death panels, and rationed care are scare words.

Texans like to be first in many things and that is fine. I do not think we want to be first in the number of uninsured residents. There is more to health care than the bottom line. Try human kindness and empathy.

Jack Linden is a retired history professor and a regular contributor to the Gazette Enterprise editorial page.

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