HEALTH: The right direction

The struggle between the Republicans and the Democrats is basically whether adequate health care is a right to be provided to all, or whether health care is to be provided on a free market, that is, available only to those who can afford it. I don’t believe health care is something that can be provided through a free market.

The typical patient, upon being told he has cancer, is not in a position to shop for his specialist physician, his hospital, or decide which medicine he is going to take, or which procedures he will undergo. The typical patient will accept the advice of his doctor. Consequently, there is no built-in restraint on what is charged for services or medicines.

Medical care in the U.S. is the most expensive per capita of all of the economically advanced countries. Health care has to be regulated whether through a single-payer setup like Medicaid or Medicare, or through a mixed public/private arrangement like a utility where price ranges are set for doctors, hospitals and medicines. Doctors, hospitals, and certainly pharmaceutical companies will have to accept that their prices will be regulated. Every adult must be required to carry health insurance just as everyone who drives a car is required to carry auto insurance. Young healthy people need to recognize that they cannot wait until they are sick or injured before they get insured, and that they need to support the care provided to their parents through a universal health insurance program.

RICHARD CRIPE

Coeur d’Alene