Healing the health care system

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Today corn is at least $1 below the cost of production. Yet the chicken, cattle and hog producers are still losing significant amounts of money in spite of reduced input costs. Agriculture seems to be going through its economic downturn, while the rest of the country debates health care.

In regard to health care, what is a public option, pre-existing condition, getting rid of yearly dollar caps, lifetime dollar caps, single payer, co-ops, death panels, illegal residents receiving insurance — what is true, and what is not? And why should rural folks even care, or is this just a big city issue?

While hog farmers are selling hogs at $20 to $30 below cost of production at 1974 prices, many working class families struggle to make mortgage payments, pay their water and electric bills, while at best receiving only cost of living raises.

In Fiscal Year 2009, Archer-Daniels-Midland (ADM) registered a $429 million profit. ADM is also one of the largest convicted price fixers. Now let us address health insurance and companies like Aetna. Aetna reported a 28 percent decline in profits recently, which still showed $2.90 a share profit on a $28 stock. This is a very significant return for any company, but especially in tough economic times.

How do these companies extract these kinds of returns while ordinary people struggle to just hold on to our jobs, cash, and way of life? At the same time other corporations request the federal government (the taxpayer) to bail out irresponsible, high risk money schemes that were done in the name of free trade, free markets and deregulation. The common denominator with all of these corporations is greed and their abuse of the consumer or taxpayer.

The American Medical Association (AMA) and many state medical associations have filed class action lawsuits against a number of insurers including Aetna, Cigna and WellPoint, accusing them of engaging in price fixing to underpay local doctors and increase the patient’s share. While those are ongoing actions, Ingenix, a parent company of United Health has already settled a similar lawsuit for $350 million. This is the same company organizing against health care reform by scaring the elderly with death panels, their output of misinformation, and along with fellow insurers are sending their troops of lobbyists to wage war in Washington D.C. with a ratio of six lobbyists to each Congressman to kill health care reform.

Back to the original question — why care about health care reform? Many people have lost the ability to afford health care because our wages have risen slowly or not at all — unlike health care premiums, which have risen at more than double the rate of inflation. Many farmers or their wives have taken jobs off the farm just for family health insurance. These insurance companies do not want regulation; they desire the ability to price fix and collude more easily under the present system. The government’s “public option” will create competition and accountability where today both are lacking. The health care bill today eliminates pre-existing conditions, yearly dollar caps and lifetime dollar caps. What is not in this bill is insurance for illegal residents, death panels or single payer. The public option is optional, not mandatory. You may retain your current coverage if that is your desire. The status quo is unsustainable for the poor and uninsured, the middle class or the self-insured businessman.

Finally, our local health care workers and hospitals are an important part of our communities. Our local hospital survives on less than 1.5 percent rate of return, and the workers are fortunate to receive cost of living increases while insurance companies extract maximum profits. Right now, all of us, healthy or not, are at risk with this present system. Rural America and people who need medical attention need not be treated like second-class citizens by insurance companies and their corporate pencil-pushing bureaucrats.

The government is the only one big enough to do for us what we can not do for ourselves, individually. This is the proper time and the proper place for a fair and just government.