Pea-less

The health-care reform bill is a political lightning rod, but, in the shell game of American politics, where is the pea? From what important issue(s) are we being misdirected? One might speculate: the economy and foreign policy. Until or unless those two larger issues have been resolved, real health-care reform is purely theoretical. There is no funding for it.

Health-care reform in its current incarnation is an oxymoron. What is presently proposed best serves the interests of neither the uninsured nor the insured, but rather, it serves the interests of the insurance companies. It gives them a legally mandated monopoly over health care in this country, which expands their jurisdiction to include all those currently without health-care coverage. The methods insurance companies propose in order to implement this plan are nothing new. They will continue to utilize the managed health organization (MHO) model: premium costs based on actuarial tables; capitation rates likewise; and access to care meted out in a similar fashion.

The failure of the MHO model is the basis of the public outcry for health-care reform. How sad and ironic that the insurance companies have lobbied their way into running the entire thing, under the guise of “reform.” Sadder still that we believe the sham, and allow ourselves to be manipulated into an angry debate over “reform” that is anything but. – Chuck Lepkowsky