U.S. Expects Too Much of Health Care Plans
To the editors:
The editorial "Solving the Health Care Crisis" (Sept. 26) was instructive in its analysis of the differences between the health care plans proposed by Al Gore '69 and George W. Bush. However, you ignore the separate issues of health care services and rates of insurance coverage, and do a disservice by your enthusiasm for "Americans' right to choose" services.
I challenge your assertion that "the state of American health care is in a crisis." Americans have excellent health care. The only real crisis in our health is the prevalance of obesity, poor diet, smoking, inactive lifestyles and high-risk behavior by which Americans stubbornly harm their own health and that of others. However, you are correct that the lack of insurance coverage of low-income Americans, especially children, is a failing that can and needs to be remedied.
We certainly do have, in this period of prosperity, adequate resources to provide basic health care services to all members of society. However, the current rhetoric skewers those plans that use health maintenance organizations (HMOs) as the model of affordable health care. We will never reach a viable health plan if we insist on the best health care that money can buy for everyone; medical science will always provide newer, more expensive, and more effective treatments for those with the money to pay for it.
Trying to promote a "right to choose" from all health care options without having to pay for it is ludicrous. The fact that some people can pay for these treatments provides a financial incentive to promote their development and the ultimate reduction in cost and expansion of availability such as that which we see when patents on drugs expire. In the meantime, we can provide a level of coverage sufficient to guarantee treatment for the majority of ailments that we encounter. Those who feel that their health requires more guarantees are free to spend more, but we need a sensible societal discourse to determine what level of care we are willing and able to guarantee to the most vulnerable and least wealthy.
Jai Nair '99-'01
Sept. 27, 2000
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