I'm angry, frustrated and disillusioned. Health care reform can't be that hard. Years of hoping, months of promises and now weeks of stalling and political rhetoric have driven me to write my first letter. In a news-scape littered with hyperbole, if anything rises to a real crisis in our country right now, the state of health care is it. This is literally about life and death.
With all the examples out there and all the brainpower in this nation, we can't come up with something better than this? Regarding progress on the bipartisan bill, Senate Finance Committee chairman Max Baucus, D-Montana, arrogantly proclaims, "We are ready when we are ready" -- while people die and go bankrupt daily.
Sen. Jim DeMint, R-South Carolina, seems to consider the crisis just an opportunity to block the President's agenda and further his own. The backs of the uninsured ... what a good step up they make. Two sisters, friends of mine, with a family history of colon cancer: One sister had excellent insurance (State of Alaska), had early screening tests and a precancerous polyp was found and removed -- all is well. The second sister, self-employed, could not afford health insurance, nor a $2,000 colonoscopy. A few years later, this sister ignored symptoms, suffered silently for months, eventually became very sick and had emergency surgery to remove a large malignant tumor (coincidentally from the same vicinity as was her sister's polyp). She received 18 months of chemotherapy and radiation but died of the disease at 47 years of age. Two hundred thousand dollars in medical expenses are written off by caregivers (increasing costs for the rest of us). Her death was preventable -- if our country had a system that assured health care to all its citizens.
I'm one of those small businesses being "crushed by skyrocketing health care costs" as the president remarked on Saturday. We provide health care for our three employees through a group plan. Despite more than doubling deductibles over the years, our premiums went up 40 percent this year -- and this is certainly not the first year they've gone up, though it is the largest single jump. I dread our next renewal -- how much further will my profit margin be squeezed? I can't raise retail prices that much that fast. Not if I want to remain competitive in my market.
I'm trying to do what I feel is right for my employees. I can't say whether or not my competitors offer similar benefits. What we pay per employee is similar to what some pay for a mortgage. Could you afford to have your mortgage payment rise by 40 percent?
Currently more people make career choices based on health care coverage than on following their education, training and passions. What effect does this have on our nation's productivity?
I'm forced to conclude it really is about big business and profit. Nothing else explains the stalling and political gamesmanship. Frankly, I'm beyond caring what it will "cost future generations." I don't see how we can get any more expensive than where we're heading now. Besides, how can we really know the resulting net costs? In the end, if we do it right, we should save money and we absolutely should have a healthier nation. What is that worth? Is it really about money? Should it be? What was my friend's life worth? Ask her sister.
A lifelong Alaskan, Debby Retherford lives with her husband and young son in Palmer. Together they own and operate a small retail and manufacturing business
By DEBBY RETHERFORD