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It's Time To Share The Cost Of Health Care

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DEREK MAUL

Columnist

Published: January 21, 2009

Updated: 01/21/2009 09:51 am

It's doubtless a no-brainer to say that probably every reader has a nightmare story to tell when it comes to medical insurance.

The last time I broached the subject with a friend, the response started with "Let me count the ways," included 30 minutes of excruciating detail and ended with tears.

My current mess was launched when the doctor's office pre-approved my MRI by calling the wrong number.

The past five months have run the gamut from outlandish bills to threats from collection agencies to across-the-board buck-passing by those unwilling to own up to their responsibility.

But the real bottom line — aside from the $1,200 owed the hospital and $250 for the doctor who glanced at my results — is this: Financial stress impacts every aspect of care. Here are just a few observations.

1.The next time my doctor orders a test, I am less likely to follow through.

2.Fouled-up insurance and unreasonableness in collections add up to extreme stress.

3.People under stress do not heal as well.

4.The cost of maintaining inefficient and unreasonably lucrative insurance systems adds its own layer of fleecing to the cycle.

5.Emergency rooms are often overrun by people without insurance who cannot afford preventative or routine care.

6.The cost of coverage increases when you lose your job.

7.People out of the health loop eventually run out of luck.

8.Insurance prepaid by everyone means equal access based on need.

One common argument against universal health care is the much-ballyhooed ineffectiveness of existing systems, such as the National Health Service in the U.K. But how about the stomach-churning, credit threatening, health-compromising ineptitude of my plan — or yours?

These plans are paid for in spades over decades at a rate of thousands of dollars a year.

Check out England's health service at www.nhs.uk, then come back and dismiss any and all attempts to address a growing critical need.

I'd like to see Hillsborough County take a serious look at piloting the first steps toward such a future. We could coordinate with the state. Other counties could get on board. We could make a statement.
We could be a model for the nation.

Would it be costly? You bet. We know it already is. But unequal access to routine health care is increasingly costly, any way we add it up.

We could be the generation that actually gets this right.

Derek Maul can be reached at derekmaul@gmail.com.

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