By Connie Kaplan, RegainAmerica Staff Writer, December 18, 2006

We put men on the moon and rovers on Mars. We know how to smash atoms and cut virus particles in two.   But at the same time why is the US so utterly UNABLE to formulate some sort of a nationwide health care plan for its citizens and residents?

Before I ask the questions, let’s talk for a minute about the types of health coverage available in the US.

Government Health Care Plans
The government is self-insured and has health care plans for government employees, the military, and the poor and indigent, which last category covers programs such as Medicaid or Medicare which are available only to a few such as the elderly and those individuals deemed ill and/or poor enough to be eligible for the SSI (Supplemental Security Income) program.

Private Health Insurance Plans
Private health insurance plans are available. And they’re terrific!

If one can afford to pay for it! 

The insurance industry has delineated a narrowly defined category of individuals deemed healthy enough to pay moderately priced premiums.

Everyone else is of course deemed to be “at risk” for the insurance companies to insure, meaning their premiums are expensive, their deductibles steep, and their “pre-existing” conditions (read “surcharge” on the already expensive premiums) numerous.

Group Health Insurance Plans 
There’s also group health insurance. A smashing way to go if one happens to have a job where this benefit is offered. And, if a person should lose or leave the job with the insurance, he/she and/or their dependents can keep the insurance for only 18 months more (provided of course that the person can afford to pay their own premiums.) 

Okay, so here’s a question.

Do you have health insurance coverage under one of the foregoing health plans?

And the answer:

A certain number of us do  - and that’s great!

But MORE of us – MILLIONS of us regular “John Q. Publics”of America DON’T.

Why?

Could someone please explain to me why the United States of America – this unarguably great country which has done so many unarguably great things – is so utterly UNABLE to formulate some sort of a nationwide health care plan for its citizens and residents?

We put men on the moon. We put rovers on Mars. We know how to smash atoms and cut virus particles in two.

But we can’t cobble together a decent, affordable, nationwide health care plan

Why?

It doesn’t have to be a perfect plan and it doesn’t have to sizzle with brilliance. No – a simple but workable plan will do. Surely, SURELY, anything would be better for the people of the US than what we have going for us right now in the way of a nationwide US health plan; namely . . . . nothing at all.

What the US does have, and in abundance, is a Health Care Mess.  

One could fill 20 volumes each the size of the New York City  telephone directory with questions of how it has come to pass that a single overnight stay in the hospital can now cost upwards of $5,000. Or that a hospital can bill a patient $5.00 for a tablet, not a bottle, but a TABLET of aspirin. Or that a month of in-hospital intensive care for a premature baby can easily top out at over a million dollars.

But those questions are for a different forum. 

For now, let's get back to basics:

As the year of 2006 draws to a close, America is still without a lucid, reasonable and workable nationwide health plan.

As the year of 2006 draws to a close, millions of citizens and residents of the US remain without health care coverage.

As the year of 2006 draws to a close, millions of citizens and residents of the US still have this question to ponder: How will I pay for my health care bills if I or my loved ones get sick?   

As the year of 2006 draws to a close, millions of citizens and residents of the US still have this question to ponder: If I am unable to pay for my health care bills if I or my loved ones get sick will I lose all that I own in this life including, perhaps, my house or all other assets?

I have a lot more questions of this type to ask.

But none of us can afford to let ourselves think about these questions too much.

It might make us sick.