EDITORIAL

Brian Kennedy
Executive Editor
Monday, Nov 09, 2009

If looked at from every set of eyes, it probably would not be difficult to reach a conclusion that our national health care system is broken. Those who lack health insurance walk an unsteady tightrope. Those who have insurance are being strangled by ever-increasing premiums. Those who provide our health care deal with more restrictions, more frivolous lawsuits and more instances of non-payment.

It doesn’t seem to be working for so many.

Yet, the raging debate and competing proposals on how to fix the broken system is starting to become white noise for most people. Both proponents and opponents make valid points in their arguments for or against change, but compromise seems to have no seat at the table.

Recently, Jasper physician Jan Westerman touched on the topic of health care reform at a meeting of the Rotary Club of Jasper. His insight as a front-line participant in our health care system informed me that this problem is multi-faceted and quite grand in scale. One of the questions he raised that I found to be most thought-provoking was whether we are presently seeking “reform” or a “quick fix” of the system. How many times has government, in a rush to provide instant gratification, made a problem worse?

That is not to say that nothing needs to be done. When I returned to the Eagle over eight years ago, one of the first news stories I did concerned the struggles of small business owners and municipalities to absorb skyrocketing health insurance premiums. Has that situation improved? No, it’s just got worse. In fact, today we see more and more of those businesses forced to pass on a percentage of the increase to the employees.

A little over a year ago, I took a close look at the information provided with my paycheck and did a quick calculation of where my wages were going. By the time state and federal income taxes, Medicare taxes, Social Security taxes and medical insurance premiums were deducted, over one-third of my pay was gone. By the time you contribute to some sort of retirement fund, a typical worker is lucky to actually carry home over half of what he or she has spent the entire week working for.

That goes a long way to explain why typically healthy, young people can’t see the reason to try to make a start for a home and family by giving away such a large chunk of their wages to have solid health insurance. Of course, that cycle leads to catastrophic and costly medical bills that have to be eaten by health providers. And while no one admits those shortcomings are made up by overcharging those who do have insurance, someone has to pay the bill at the end of the day.

One other thing that Dr. Westerman pointed out that I found to be extremely interesting was how an overwhelming percentage of a person’s entire payment into the health care system would occur in the final year of life. It makes sense, but it is interesting nonetheless.

Several years ago when I was talking to a politician — who I’ll leave nameless with all the obscene fear of “death panels” — about filling budget gaps dealing with health care, he told me that we were suffering from the good brought about by advanced technology. It’s true, we have advanced to the point we can essentially keep the body alive forever.

No one wants to lose a loved one. It’s part of our human nature. No one wants to talk about their own mortality. That’s why discussions of “living wills” and advanced directives cause us to turn away.

It does give thought to an honest assessment of whether our unwillingness to let go when the time comes costs us the price of being unable to live up to that time. Is it possible that to live, we have to be willing to die?



Brian Kennedy is executive editor of the Daily Mountain Eagle. He can be reached via e-mail at brian.kennedy@mountaineagle.com or by phone at 221-2840.

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