Health Care

There are many sides to the health insurance issue. Let's look at the statistics that have been presented so far:

• The population of the United States is over 300 Million.
• There are between 28 Million and 52 Million people who, by choice or circumstance, do not have health insurance. According to the U.S. Census Bureau the number is 45 Million.
  
• There are an estimated 10 Million aliens without health coverage.
• Of those, MIT estimates 6 Million of are undocumented and would not be covered under any of the proposed systems.
• Of the 39 Million lawful residents, 43% or nearly 17 Million people can afford coverage but choose not to buy it.
• The Congressional Budget Office estimates the cost of reform would top 1 Trillion Dollars over the next decade, while reducing the number of uninsured by 15 Million.
  
• The population of the United States is divided on what path should be taken in reforming health insurance or health care.

Based on the statistics that have been agreed on by both sides of the debate, why is the debate still going on? The coverage is not universal, it is expensive and it will make it more difficult for private companies to compete. There is a quote from an interview in The Post-Journal of Jamestown, NY; Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), a member of the Senate Finance Committee, that one of the problems with the current health insurance landscape is the lack of competition.

Perhaps the most glaring example of that lack of competition is the Rochester market, where two insurance companies control 94 percent of the market. Not far behind is Ithaca, where the top two insurance companies control 91 percent of the market. In the Buffalo, Cheektowaga and Tonawanda market, the top two insurers control 87 percent of the market.

''We have to introduce more competition,'' Schumer said. ''The lack of competition is what drives up premiums. Introducing further competition into the market will push those prices down for those who are already insured and put health insurance within reach for those who cannot afford it now. Our current system, dominated by private insurance companies, simply has not done the job.''-The Post-Journal Aug. 2, 2009

Perhaps Senator Schumer should have checked with the New York State Insurance Department. He would have uncovered the inconvenient fact is that there are 48 companies or HMO's licensed to sell insurance in the state of New York. How much more competition does Sen. Schumer desire. Or is it that he only wants the not-for-profit government insurance company to be the new competitor?

Why should a government based health care system be a cause for concern? 2 major reasons are that it creates a huge potential for displacing tens of thousands of workers in that field. The second reason is a development from this past weekend.

The president of Cuba, Raul Castro announced Saturday that Cuba will cut spending on education and health care, potentially weakening the building blocks of its communist system in a bid to revive a floundering economy.

The former defense minister who took over the presidency last year called state spending "simply unsustainable" and said the cash-strapped government would reorganize rural schools and scrutinize its free health care system in search of ways to save money.-AP Aug 1, 2009

That is the most frightening aspect of the whole debate. That your health care could be jeopardized in order to balance the budget. As I have stated in previous posts, our spending is already unsustainable and the government isn't paying for health care yet.

The fact that our legislators are playing us is the reason they need to go. Chuck Schumer is up for re-election in 2010. To the fine citizens of New York I ask you to begin looking for a replacement for him, Senator Gillibrand and the 29 members of the House of Representatives .