Jim Govatos: Fighting against our own lives

As I write this column the U.S. government is in its 14th day of sequestration, or enforced furloughs for “non-essential workers.” While the apocalypse did not come when we hit sequestration, we are beginning to feel the pinch a bit right now. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has failed to respond to a devastating snowstorm in South Dakota that has left thousands of heads of cattle dead and some farmers near economic ruin. Thousands of veterans have had to force their way into the memorials that honor their service to our country. And things could get much worse. Why? Because politicians on both sides of the aisle are playing a dangerous game of “chicken” with each other.

The flashpoint for the sequestration has been the debate over Obamacare, a program that Congress voted into law several years ago. This program has been a hot topic for the American public in general, with debates often generating more heat than light. As someone who has voted for people in both parties from time-to-time, I want to suggest that we at least give the program a try.

We need to try because more than 15 percent of the American public has no health insurance at all. This not only leaves them vulnerable; it leaves the rest of us vulnerable as well. We are still a compassionate enough people to ensure that even the uninsured will get compassionate health care of some sort. The cost of this uninsured health care is always passed on, either through the higher funding costs of public hospitals or the higher fees of private ones. In true emergencies, the uninsured still get some attention, though often not enough. In fact they are already getting rather poor universal health coverage “under the table.” In addition, they are denied some of the preventative services that could have rendered their emergency situations unnecessary. This type of universal coverage is probably more expensive than we can calculate, not to mention undignified for its recipients.

One of the great outcries of universal health care opponents is that socialized medicine results in excessive waiting times for medical procedures. Often Canada’s failures are cited as examples. I’m not so sure that Obamacare could be categorized as socialized medicine, but even if it were it would not be the end of the world.

I lived in Australia during the 1980s when Bob Hawke’s Labor Government switched the Australian healthcare system from private to socialized overnight. The sky didn’t cave in nor was paradise regained, but the average person made out all right. In the medical practitioner arena, the disparity in salaries between specialists and family medicine doctors evened out a bit. The only people upset by this were the specialists! For the average patient, going to the doctor became simpler, as doctors gave discounts for direct billing. Both of my children were born in an Australian hospital and received the best of care. My wife developed an ulcerated cornea and received swift, excellent treatment. Public health benefitted in that doctors who were over-prescribing narcotics and barbiturates were caught more easily. Were there problems with the new system? Yes. But there were problems with the old system as well.

Which brings me to the issue of our current healthcare system that is ruled by private healthcare companies. It is not exactly the most functional system in the world. About 14 years ago, my first wife (the same one with the ulcerated cornea in Australia) developed a rare form of cancer. Because of her unusual cancer and her young age, her Johns Hopkins-trained surgical oncologist wanted to treat her with an approved but unusual treatment. Our insurance company refused. I called the company and asked to speak with the medical director who had made the decision. The customer service representative refused. I asked if she would let me speak to the director if I were a doctor or a lawyer. She said, “yes.” In reviewing the situation, I said, “So you’re telling me that if I were a doctor or a lawyer, I could speak with the medical director, but because I’m a normal person, I can’t.” In a moment of transparency she replied, “Yes, that’s right.” Months later we won our right to the treatment through the state insurance board, but it was already too late. I’m not sure it could get much worse than this, and I supposedly had great coverage!

My point is this: why not give Obamacare a try? If it doesn’t work, people can always vote it out later. In the meantime it would let the government, which isn’t working, get back to work.