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Frank Pignanelli, LaVarr Webb: Two Utahns leading charge on health care

Health insurance is the problem, not the cure. Automobile insurance was cheap untill the government made it mandatory. The more we force health insurance on people the more expensive it will become. We are moving in the wrong direction to achieve affordable health care.

There is no Utah healthcare plan. Look at the Governor's budget-- a small increase for providers and some more study money is not a plan. Clark and Killpack aren't saying much but when they do talk they don't seem to be able to agree with each other or the Governor. Utah Republicans know 2008 is going to be an election year where healthcare will be a top issue so they have pulled out the smoke machine and the mirrors but there is no plan because they don't believe government should do anything about the problem.

Problems do not get solved until the source of the problem is identified. 15% of Utah citizens without health insurance is a symptom, not the cause, of a broken health care system. Putting an overly expensive bandaid (mandated private insurance) does not solve these problems:
1 -- A large portion of those with insurance can't afford their copays and deductibles.
2 -- Spending more per person per year does not provide the US with good health care outcomes.
3 -- For a decade the cost of medical care has far outstripped inflation and relatively stagnant wages
4 -- Approximately 1/3 of all health care dollars remain with the insurance companies who continue to post enormous profits and pay execs far too generously.

These proposals are bogus and merely reward insurance companies and produce a phony dazzle of results on paper only.

Utah's economy is not so good for the workers who make significantly less than the national average with larger than average families.

Let's get real and tackle the actual source of the problem.

Leavitt's argument is absurd, as are the claims of all the others like him. First of all, he ignores the reality that Medicare is the most efficient health care system in the US, with the lowest overhead cost. Second, the claim that the "market" will ... at some indeterminate point in the future ... do what it has not done in the US for half a century is either naive or deliberately deceptive. Or both. We have reached a crisis point in the US where decisions have to be made. Fantasies about the market obscure what it is we have to do.
We have had and will continue to have a mixed economy. A combination of private and public sector health care programs has existed for decades and has to be expanded slightly to accommodate all those who cannot afford private coverage. The Republican Party's stubborn refusal to accept that simple fact is the source of all our current woes. That is why the GOP is headed for a huge defeat next November.

Relying on the market to deliver a health care solution is a pipe dream. Insurance companies have no incentive to change the current system, the market is working for them, they're making boat loads of money, and they are using some of that money to buy off both political parties. The market is not working for the providers or the patients. How would the market work anyway. More transparent pricing would be great for routine procedures but I don't think you're going to go online and comparison price emergency rooms if your loved one is in the other room having a heart attack. The market is perfect in some situations but just doesn't work in others. Health care is one of those situations where market based solutions are absurd.

One way to lower our nation's health care costs is to make curing diseases a much higher national priority. We are so close to absolishing major diseases that drain hundreds of billions from our economy annually, and that cause millions to suffer. By investing more in research, streamlining the research, testing, and approval process, we'll not only save millions of lives--reason enough--but we'll also in the long run save trillions of dollars.

I am excited for a government solution to health care. The government did a great job in New Orleans, spends tax money wisely, knows what Iran is doing with their nuclear programme, helped corporations with Sarbanes-Oxley, keeps our highway bridges safe...

President Reagan said the scarriest words in the English language are "I'm from the government and I am here to help." Will the cure be better than the disease? The problem is the regulatory environment the government created.

When the Utah government fixes the problem, and Hillary fixes the problem, where will Canadian's go to get health care?