Straight From the Horse's Mouth

I know health care reform is a hot topic. I don't think everyone fully understands what is being proposed. I'm not pretending to know everything about it. I do know there are a lot of different sides to this issue.

The key thing that I understand is that our current president is a moderate. He is not a radical seeking to overthrow the entire structure of "Corporate America." By extension, neither is he attempting to force government-controlled health care down the American public's throat.

President Obama has called for health care reform legislation that includes a public option that would give people who cannot currently afford to privately purchase health insurance the opportunity to enroll in a government-administered health insurance program.

I know that there are many people who believe that the fiscal bottom line is what should be used as a governing rule of any new government expenditure. I believe in fiscal responsibility as well. I am also a pragmatist and realize that the needs of the citizenry change and take precedence over what any party believes to be the appropriate fiscal/political agenda.

This country's citizenry is under-insured, but at the same time generates the largest per capita health care expenditures: the underlying reason for this is that health insurance providers' primary objective has shifted. Reasonable profits accrued from the provision of insurance to the most people possible is not the industry standard. Maximization of profit through selective recission of policies and denial of policies to those with "existing conditions" has permeated the industry.

There are many reasons for our country have the largest per capita health care expenditures. Two of them are: 1) Artificially inflated costs created by the necessity of using urgent care facilities for health maladies that could and should be handled in health clinics rather than hospital emergency rooms, and; 2) The unregulated Wall Street mentality that currently governs all health insurance providers to ensure that profit is maximized and expenses are minimalized.

I am not calling for universal coverage for all people under a government-administered health insurance program. I am joining the President in his call for responsible and meaningful health care reform that includes a public option for government-administered public insurance.

The title of this post is a link to Bill Moyers Journal where you can watch an interview with Wendell Potter, a former CEO and communications officer of CIGNA; a leader in the health insurance industry. Please click on the link and watch Mr. Potter's interview with Bill Moyer. The interview includes excerpts of Mr. Potter's congressional testimony.