An editorial “Health reform and higher taxes starts” states
“U. S. Rep. Joe Pitts has a message for Pennsylvania and other states that have gone through protracted budget fights: Get used to it…Health care reform bills being discussed now call for a substantial boost in spending on Medicaid, the government health insurance program for the poor…Since Medicaid is funded by both the federal and state governments, both would be required to pick up the additional cost.”
WATCHDOG: Not only does the dog wag his tail, but he opposes any health care reform that does not minimally include a “public option” provision.
We can’t get something for nothing. Either we pay more to cover the uninsured or we reduce costs sufficiently to offset the added costs. It’s a simple as that.
Studies show that health care for the typical American is mediocre compared to other developed nations, yet the system costs at least half again as much. The huge profits earned by insurance companies and Lancaster General are coming from everybody’s salary at a rate of an extra dollar an hour. (LGH thrives due to market dominance which enables it to determine what insurers and the public will pay.)
Only by injecting real competition through an expanded, pay-as-you-go, Medicare type program and taking other important steps, such as limiting malpractice awards, can we free ourselves from a system so devastating to our economy and ultimately to our national security.
