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HEALTH CARE
I would like to respond to last week's Pub
Notes. Though Mr. McCommons' column made
it sound absolutely insane to question the
president's initiative, I do not necessarily
agree with him that caution to larger govern
ment interference in private sector concerns
should not be of concern to the public.
The government as a whole has proven to
be a paragon of inefficiency and incompe
tence, and as a rule the larger the government
bureaucracy the larger those inefficiencies. I
think that if the government truly wants to
start managing the health care system then
they need to show the public that they can
properly manage their existing entitlement
programs of Medicare, Medicaid and Social
Security. Reform needs to begin with existing
programs before such a huge endeavor as gov
ernment-sponsored health care is launched.
There are also many initiatives that can
and should be enacted that will start the pro
cess of at least alleviating some of the health
care cost issues at hand today. If the govern
ment wants to increase competition in this
field then they should deregulate the industry
as far as regulations pertain to a ban on inter
state crossover among private companies. The
current thought being bandied about, that
the government's entry into the field will cre
ate another player and spur competition, is, I
believe, false. A government-run health care
system will actually reduce competition due
to the fact that the government has an unfair
edge—they have unlimited access to tax
dollars, budgets are never an issue and they
do not post a profit but rather run deficits,
borrowing from future taxpayers.
Tort reform should and must be considered
immediately so that the burden of exces
sive insurance on the medical profession
can be mitigated, thus lowering the overall
cost of health care. Nurse Practitioners and
physicians' assistants should be accorded far
greater ability to treat patients for mundane
and common ailments, further lowering bill
expense as well as
the load on doc
tors in general. As
to helping extend
coverage to the mil
lions who are cur
rently uninsured, the
government should
level the playing field
in passing a law to
allow for a health
insurance expense tax
deduction, thus according the same monetary
subsidy to the self-insured as they currently
give to those insured through employers.
Part of the problem with health care today
is that people use it indiscriminately for any
and every ailment, when ultimately it should
be used more similarly to the way we use
home insurance. One can insure a $200,000
home for less than $800 per year. If we were
to submit claims every time we broke a win
dow or had to re-roof and expected the insur
ance company to pay for 80 percent of it, our
rates would most assuredly be many times
greater. But we don't, and yet if the bouse
had a fire it would be replaced for the maxi
mum policy amount of $200,000. In the same
way, most Americans can afford to pay for a
visit to the doctor for strep throat or even a
broken arm but would certainly need help for
any surgery or extended hospital stay.
Ultimately health care is a finite commod
ity that costs money. Whether it's the govern
ment paying for it or private individuals, we
the public will still end up paying for it. Can
it be better than it is? Sure. Are there things
we can do before
rushing head first off
a cliff just because
a political firestorm
has been raised for
the imminent nuclear
option of government
takeover? Yes. So
let's all calm down
and take baby steps
and start to solve
the problem, the
main culprit of which is Medicare—a problem
that was created over 40 years ago, by the
government, for the people. I for one have
little faith in any large bureaucratic solutions,
whether they be Democrat or Republican.
David Cappi
Winterville
HEALTHY FOR GRAD STUDENTS?
The Board of Regents of the University
System of Georgia recently made reckless and
irresponsible changes to graduate insurance.
The maximum out-of-pocket expenditure has
been quadrupled from $2,500 to $10,000. In
addition, the maximum benefit for depen
dents has drastically decreased from $300,000
to $50,000. Students with debilitating ill
nesses will incur an out-of-pocket expense of
$10,000 each year, which means that students
will likely have to take out student loans in
order to cover medical procedures. Graduate
insurance was supposed to protect students
from catastrophic illnesses, but the Regents'
changes have taken a basic policy and turned
it into a catastrophe waiting to happen.
While the Board of Regents made these
changes in light of the economic malaise, they
were done without student input and were
not communicated to graduate students effec
tively. (The Board of Regents has no student
representatives, as do many other boards of
regents across the country.) This failure left
open the possibility for students to find out
about these changes in the emergency room.
The Board of Regents could have increased
premiums. 12 percent in order to maintain the
same level of coverage. However, even with
last year's level of coverage, the University
System of Georgia lags behind peer institu
tions that subsidize graduate insurance for
students on assistantship at 100 percent. This
means that the University of Georgia is losing
its competitive advantage to rival institutions.
Please write your state legislators on the
Higher Education Committee and communicate
the dangerous consequences that will result
from this policy change.
William Rooks
President, UGA Graduate Student Association
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