Dear Sir or Madam:
While the protection of free speech, the reduction of the tax burden and stimulating the economy are issues of concern to most of us, the lack of a sensible healthcare plan has got to be critical to all!
I am a self-employed 60-year old sole legal practitioner. My wife, who is in her 50’s, works as my legal assistant. We have a 20-year old son who is enrolled in college full time. We pay almost $1,300.00/mo. for very mediocre health insurance coverage. That is equivalent to an additional “tax” of close to $15,600.00 per year.
Being 60 years old, I will not be eligible for Medicare for several years yet and my wife even longer, and all the time we continue to see our premiums rise by almost $3,600.00 each year, with ever higher deductibles, co-pays, etc. Where will this stop?
There can be no doubt that many conscientious American companies that are currently providing private health insurance for their employees are paying more for this insurance than all employment taxes combined. This clearly constitutes a tremendous economic burden when attempting to compete with foreign companies, which, for all other industrialized countries, have far lower health-related expenses.
Unfortunately, there is no incentive or, for that matter, a practical solution, for anyone to do anything about this crisis under the current system: Insurance companies simply (must?) pass on the increased costs to their insureds, in the form of higher premiums and lower coverages. There is no one single company with enough market power to say no to the increased costs of pharmaceuticals, specialists and hospital fees. Since all insurers face the same cost increases, they simply pass them on, while the availability and quality of care worsens and the costs skyrocket.
It is absurd to argue that the decisions regarding our care are currently being made by our doctor and us. It is the “undemocratic” and solely profit-motivated insurance companies that are making these decisions for us, and it shouldn’t be.
Only the U.S. government is in a position to say: enough is enough. It is unconscionable for many medicines in the U.S. (where they were developed and are manufactured) to cost two and three times what they cost in Canada and other industrialized countries around the world; or for a specialist to charge $450.00 and more for a 10 minute consultation. How can it be justified that even a highly educated specialist earns more in 10 minutes than many heads of household earn in an entire week? Please, this insanity must stop!
We keep being told by a number of congressmen how much better our private healthcare is, when compared to those of the other industrialized nations! What nonsense: It is absurdly costly and inefficient.
Mothers don’t take their children for routine checkups and inoculations because they cannot afford the co-payments. Those of us who are suffering the effects of the worst recession we have seen in our lifetime, are in constant fear of losing our insurance coverage and, with the substantial increase in unemployment over the last couple of years, it cannot be doubted that large numbers of workers have already lost theirs.
And what of the inefficient way in which we provide health coverage for the unemployed and uninsured? We are assured that the poor will not be allowed to suffer for lack of care. “Why”, we are told, “they can always get emergency care at the public hospitals”. We all know how terribly inefficient this is, from an economic, emotional and human suffering point of view: We prefer to treat patients for diabetes, heart disease and, especially, colon cancer (the most preventable form of cancer, if pre-cancer polyps are detected and removed during a timely routine colonoscopy), than to have them obtain the necessary care to prevent these life-threatening, serious and tragic illnesses through routine care. Not only does the patient suffer as a result, but his or her entire family can be devastated by the consequences of such a tragedy.
As an attorney, I am more conscious than most of the claims that tort reform would be the solution to the problem. In fact, the various states already have enacted extensive malpractice legislation to lower the rights of injured patients.
Ask anyone of the thousands whose loved ones have suffered serious permanent injuries as a result of negligent or impaired health care providers how difficult and lengthy the process of receiving compensation has been.
Why, many ask, are the compensation awards given by conscientious jurors (i.e. our own neighbors) so high? The answer is simple: the cost of providing healthcare for the victims of malpractice is enormous and continues to rise daily. Is the solution to simply say that those victims of medical malpractice should be forgotten? That they should be left to fend for themselves? Clearly, the answer of a civilized society can only be no. If you want to control the size of jury verdicts in malpractice cases, you must provide an alternative humane public option to care for those (fortunately) rare victims of careless or accidental medical mishaps. It is nonsense to argue for one without providing for the other.
The debate has now gone on for more than 100 years. It is time to do something about this ever-deepening crisis: please help push a comprehensive program that will resolve this problem once and for all.
And to those who cynically say: “Yea, that’s all we need; another inefficiently-run government program”, we answer: “Tell me about the efficiency of private enterprise: Toyota, Bernie Madoff, G.M., Countrywide, et al.?” We, the hard working taxpayers only want what the members of our own government have. Nothing more . . . and nothing less.
Thank you for taking the time to read this personal account.
Sincerely,
Mike Currea
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MICHAEL A. CURREA, ESQ.
8181 N.W. 36 St., Ste. 27-C
Doral, Florida 33166
Tel.# 305/470-9335
Fax # 305/459-2122
Email address: michael@currealaw.com
www.currealaw.com
Please add any comments or thoughts you may have on the subject, but, most importantly, PLEASE, think about this and make sure that the members of Congress are aware of your concerns!