Things we don't understand about health care reform

We will be among the first to acknowledge that very few issues in our society are more complicated and difficult to grasp than our health care system.

With that in mind, we certainly don't claim to have all the answers -- or even most of them.

We do know the cost of health care in America is not sustainable over a period of time -- in fact, it is not sustainable right now.

The cost of health care in the United States represents about 16 percent of the value of our Gross Domestic Product, generally about twice the ratio of other industrialized nations.

In 1980, the cost was 8.8 percent of GDP.

The sad fact is that, despite generally being perceived in our public forum as the world's best system, independent studies show Americans are no more healthy than citizens of other industrial nations -- in fact, benchmark standards in this nation are lower in most areas of comparison.

In short, we are not getting what we pay for.

Despite that fact, the airwaves are filled with commercials and announcements assuring us that we do have the world's greatest system -- the cynical side of us leads to the conclusion those most benefiting from the current system are financing the rosy declarations.

The total cost for health care in the United States was $2.2 trillion in 2007, three times more than in 1990 and it is rising each year far in excess of the cost of living.

Furthermore, a shocking 62 percent of personal bankruptcies relate to medical costs and, perhaps even more surprising, 80 percent of those who met that fate had health insurance.

With this backdrop, here are some things we don't understand about the health care reform debate:

--Why is it that so many of our fellow Americans so smugly state there essentially is nothing wrong with the current system? We can at least partially answer this question -- these generally are people who have good jobs, have solid health insurance coverage and aren't really that worried about the future. This entire issue is not so much one of believing we should be our brother's keeper -- but couldn't we at least take step one and acknowledge that our brother faces some severe problems? In this case, it is trying to find a way to provide basic health care services for himself and his family.

--Why aren't more business people aggressively on board with developing a better and more equitable health care system? The current "game" is devastating to both small and large businesses, as they are unfairly saddled with the costs associated with what should be a more societal-based system. Where we ever got the idea that businesses should provide health care coverage is hard to ascertain -- from a philosophical perspective, at least. This specific issue has created lots of problems for American business, not the least of which has been the unfair playing field which domestic automakers have suffered from for years.

--Why do so many U.S. citizens currently on Medicare stand at open forums and shout the government should stay out of health care? How's that for extreme irony?

--And, while we have numerous other questions, we will conclude this time with the one that probably amazes us the most in the current debate -- why do so many people think it is so terrible to deal with a "government bureaucrat" concerning medical care as opposed to currently battling (on the private side) with a host of "insurance bureaucrats"? Think about it -- do you hear more people complaining about problems with Medicare, or with insurance companies, when it comes to costs, denial of services or elimination of coverage altogether?

--REK