Health Care in America

If you intend to build a building on sand, you'd better lay the correct foundation. It's not impossible, but a true engineering challenge. For some reason, we insist on developing a much needed health care program for Americans without even beginning to determine if there's sufficient foundation and infrastructure to support a viable program.

The famed and ill-fated "Obama Care" was developed by politicians for politicians in a void without so much as a glance at existing programs that have worked over many years. In nearly every viable health care program there is a partnership between government, health care providers and private insurance agencies. Government's role is to control the costs of medical treatment, not allowing them to spin out of control. Health care providers must accept a relatively narrow pricing scope for their services. Insurance companies must be both protected and controlled so they can make a profit while insuring the health of America. The government needs to get into the act of collecting payments from both employers and employees. Unfortunately, there will be a time period before the health funds will mature to the point that it can pay medical costs for all Americans. During that transition period, the government has to step in and pay the bills. This simple fact makes government control of costs imperative. I hate to imagine what administrative monster would have to be created, but such a huge and complicated program can never work without strong guidance and management.

I don't have solutions. It's clear to me, however, that an American medical care program is essential and way overdue. How to keep it out of the political process will be the greatest challenge. Building a painful and radical infrastructure of price controls will be an equally challenging problem. Administering and controlling it all takes the prize as the most challenging. I wonder how close we really are and if we have legislators willing to do the non-partisan things necessary to help and protect all Americans. Somehow, I can't believe it's possible. But we must!