Worsening the Odds - Bob Herbert Health Care Editorial New York Times

Worsening the Odds - New York Times

Health care rationing of the worst kind is happening in America today. Herbert tells the story of a carpenter named Lonnie who doesn't have health insurance and won't go to the hospital until it is too late.

Dies at 45 of brain cancer. Totally unnecessary. Yet how many people do you know who have put off treatment or preventive exams just because they cost too much?

This rationing of health care -- not easy free access for preventive care like every other country -- is a moral and ethical noose around America's neck.

Health care delivery is polite lynching-- because poor white, black and brown people are being ganged up on by an inhumane health care system that insures wealthy doctors and insurance ocmpanies get paid, even as it denies coverage to those who need it most.

Grim reaper health care of the worst kind, Lonnie's story is America's story-- when you let a market and private enterprise insurance run health care-- the market -- by definition -- creates winners and losers. This is no way to be together. Publicly funded, single payer health care takes the profit out of health care and gives it to millions without.

And it would help those who are underinsured sleep better knowing that even if they got sick, they wouldn't go bankrupt trying to get better.

How many great little businesses and innovation haven't been started because someone working at a big company is afraid to make the leap into self employment because they can't afford to finance their own health care?

There are losses all over the place because of the high crimes being perpetuated with health care regime today.

The biggest one ( sounding too conservative for me here) is the lack of competitiveness created with American businesses and other countries -- all of which have subsidized health care.

This has to change. But you wonder how? When Congress, unions and other progressives have gold plated health care. These people pay lip service to single payer, but no one is in the streets yet.

People used to gather and watch lynchings all the time -- eventually enough people saw the horror behind it and stopped the madness. Maybe that day will come soon in our country where people organize and stop the health care deaths happening every day in America because people can't get decent preventive health care.

I hope so.

Basta. TIm