Nov. 16, 2003 - 18:19 MST

THE WONDERING JEW

Serious Talk

Tim Babbige who is a writer living in Aurora, Colorado made a Guest commentary in the November 16th issue of The Denver Post. Titled, "The sinking of the uninsured."

In his column he makes some good points. He says, "The health-care crisis in America today can be likened to an iceberg, a majority of the health-care problem may exist beneath the surface of national consciousness." Mr. Babbige goes on, "We are very aware of the surface issues, specifically the number of Americans who are uninsured in a system that relies mostly on private insurance to provide quality care. A great debate exists over exactly how many Americans are in that group, why they are uninsured, what can be done to insure them, and what it will cost."

Mr. Babbige talks of his own history, "I used to be a member of the uninsured group. In the 29 years since I left the cozy confines of my undergraduate campus and the state-subsidized health insurance it provided, I have had health insurance for a total of about 10 years. The rest of the time I gambled that I could get away with not having it. I lost only twice. In 1979, I had an outpatient surgical procedure. In 1983, to repair the damage to my face caused by a street mugging, I had surgery again and spent three nights in the hospital recovering. In both cases, being unmployed and indigent in 1979 and being a student and indigent in 1983, I presented myself to the medical school in the state where I was residing and was treated virtually free of charge."

Then Mr. Babbige talks about the change, "Beginning in the early '90s, however, there came a series of changes in my life. I became middle class, middle-aged, married, a parent and property owner. I could not afford to gamble anymore. For the first time in my adult life, I had something to lose. If I got sick or had a serious accident, my wife and daughter might not only be saddled with enormous debts, they could also quite likely have our house taken away from them as a result."

Then Mr. Babbige goes on with his history, "With that reality staring me in the face, I entered the insurance market. Eventually, I purchased a high-deductible policy from a national company that costs me $2,200 a year, a major, but not impossible, strain on our budget. Problem solved."

The saga goes on from there, "Well, no. High deductible means I can still pay thousands of dollars out of pocket above and beyond my monthly premiums. Case in point is a recent visit I made to an emergency room. I spent less than five minutes with a doctor who mis-diagnosed my condition and was presented with a bill for almost a thousand dollars, of which my insurance paid 20 percent. Due to reasons of cost, I also frequently defer various elements of maintenance care."

To paraphrase a bit and shorten. He doesn't have a job that provides insurance. He and his wife made sacrifices so that one parent could be at home. His wife and daughter are covered with insurance but to cover him it would almost double the amount per month - over and above the several hundred dollars a month already paid for insurance. In the wife's job her raise in salary is less than her insurance premium was raised.

Mr. Babbige goes on, "The bottom line is that as tragic as the plight of the uninsured is, their problems may be dwarfed, at least in terms of the number of people affected, by the difficulties faced by the under-insured. At least we are discussing the former. I have looked in vain for any discussion of my plight, of our plight. In this area, as in so many others we need to take an even harder look at the iceberg that is our health-care crisis. Otherwise, we may just be rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic."

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I retired in 1990. The cost of living increase in Social Security each year has not come close to keeping up with the rise in costs of our existence. In 13 years my pension was upped a miniscule amount.

My HMO is paid by the company from which I retired. From corporate brainstorming the company has come up with a set figure that they will pay any HMO or point of service provider. So, every year the amount my company puts up covers us less and less. Our co-pays are up, on some of our medications we pay double. Procedures out of our clinic now cost, and on and on. Heather and I are super fortunate compared to most people. Lose a job or a 401-k it is a question of food, housing and medical care with many folks cutting any corner to save a bit of money. Care deferred for the parents to see that the kids are taken care of. Heather and I were in that spot for a time in the 60s and 'twasn't easy.

Going back, I remember when Blue Cross and Blue Shield came into being. The premiums were supposed to cover the cost of medical care. First thing though were the additionsal moneys that had to be paid each time, each prescription, yadda, yadda.

They say the economy is improving ? For who ? How many more people will be laid off or be forced to take a big cut in wages ? They are shipping our jobs overseas, I guess with the exception of janitors and others who have to work here. High-tech or low it makes little difference.

I will not even think about saying that the people overseas are not as expert or hardworking as we are. Many foreign people are above us in knowledge, expertise and dexterity. And the flood of illegals continues to pour into the United States.

Backed with drastic action it is surely time for Serious Talk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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