A Response To: "Seizing a Stable Majority"
Read This First: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A35438-2004Nov8.html
To The Editor of The Washington Post,
Mr. Gingrich seems to be suffering from a case of myopic, oversimplification-itus when it comes to healthcare reform and Republican ideological legacy. Mr. Gingrich and others who seem to be banking on Healthcare Savings Accounts as the be all, end all of healthcare reform are, at best, addressing only one small aspect of the overall problem with healthcare in America today. The problems of healthcare are many-fold and include basic access, individual and operational costs, drug availability, and resource acquisition and allocation. Healthcare savings accounts address only one of those factors, access, and it only partially addresses that.
Healthcare Savings Accounts may reduce costs for businesses, but businesses don't get ill, people do. While HSAs may allow people to set aside money to pay for medical procedures and doctor visits, thereby increasing access, somewhat, it does nothing to reduce the costs of such activities. This means that the cost of healthcare remains the same or continues to rise while more out-of-pocket expenses come from the individual. Even with tax breaks thrown in, this does not reduce the healthcare cost burden for the individual and only marginally helps with access to basic care. Furthermore, it does not take into account the fact that the forty-five million people already without access and those on the cusp of losing it because they can't afford it will take a larger hit to their budgets as the utility of money shows that the economic burden of healthcare costs, set aside or not, is much greater for those who are in the middle class and below; that's 80% of America. Many, if not a majority of Americans, simply cannot afford to be owners in the utopian ownership society.
It's clear that the overall cost of healthcare and access to at least basic care in America will not be solved by such a simplistic and myopic approach has HSAs. HSAs may be a part of a comprehensive plan, but they certainly are not the entire answer. If Mr. Gingrich is suggesting that overly simplistic ideas such as HSAs, which favor reduced costs for corporations over costs to individuals, will be part of a lasting legacy of Republican ideology that will improve this nation, then we are truly in trouble.
I am only thankful that aspirin is an over-the-counter drug.
Oh, and Mr. Gingrich, you better set aside some money to get that myopia looked at.
Read This First: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A35438-2004Nov8.html
To The Editor of The Washington Post,
Mr. Gingrich seems to be suffering from a case of myopic, oversimplification-itus when it comes to healthcare reform and Republican ideological legacy. Mr. Gingrich and others who seem to be banking on Healthcare Savings Accounts as the be all, end all of healthcare reform are, at best, addressing only one small aspect of the overall problem with healthcare in America today. The problems of healthcare are many-fold and include basic access, individual and operational costs, drug availability, and resource acquisition and allocation. Healthcare savings accounts address only one of those factors, access, and it only partially addresses that.
Healthcare Savings Accounts may reduce costs for businesses, but businesses don't get ill, people do. While HSAs may allow people to set aside money to pay for medical procedures and doctor visits, thereby increasing access, somewhat, it does nothing to reduce the costs of such activities. This means that the cost of healthcare remains the same or continues to rise while more out-of-pocket expenses come from the individual. Even with tax breaks thrown in, this does not reduce the healthcare cost burden for the individual and only marginally helps with access to basic care. Furthermore, it does not take into account the fact that the forty-five million people already without access and those on the cusp of losing it because they can't afford it will take a larger hit to their budgets as the utility of money shows that the economic burden of healthcare costs, set aside or not, is much greater for those who are in the middle class and below; that's 80% of America. Many, if not a majority of Americans, simply cannot afford to be owners in the utopian ownership society.
It's clear that the overall cost of healthcare and access to at least basic care in America will not be solved by such a simplistic and myopic approach has HSAs. HSAs may be a part of a comprehensive plan, but they certainly are not the entire answer. If Mr. Gingrich is suggesting that overly simplistic ideas such as HSAs, which favor reduced costs for corporations over costs to individuals, will be part of a lasting legacy of Republican ideology that will improve this nation, then we are truly in trouble.
I am only thankful that aspirin is an over-the-counter drug.
Oh, and Mr. Gingrich, you better set aside some money to get that myopia looked at.
posted by Mike at 1:26 PM
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