Millions, billions, trillions.
These money numbers make your head swim.
(As you probably know, a trillion is a million times a million. But try thinking of a trillion this way: if you had a trillion dollars, and decided to spend $40 million of that amount every year, it would take 25,000 years to spend it all.)
How can ordinary citizens like you and me closely follow, with any sense of comfort, the fiscal gyrations in Washington?
With this background of dollar confusion, and despite the pressure to make a health care decision of a trillion dollars or more, now is definitely not the time for a massive overhaul of the nation’s health care system, which represents some 17% of the nation’s Gross Domestic Product.
In the interest of the physical health of the nation’s citizens, as well as the fiscal health of the nation’s economy, we cannot afford to make a mistake now. We need more confidence that what we are doing is the right course.
It could have been the right time to act if steps had already been taken to curtail abuse of medical malpractice lawsuits.
Already allowing competition among insurance companies across state lines, something now forbidden, could also have lowered current health insurance costs.
And what about already having stopped by this time the admitted widespread fraud now poisoning Medicare and Medicaid? Why not fix these problems first?
Given that our health care system can and should be improved — in terms of access, quality and lower costs — we must make sound decisions now with due compassion for those receiving
Health care as well as due consideration for the roles of health care providers. Overall costs must be fairly shared.
The House of Representatives has put the health care ball in the U.S Senate’s court. May cool heads prevail.
