Some Remarks on the Remarkable

An interesting confluence of events in recent days has lead me to a new appreciation of our modern comforts. On Saturday of last week, while playing football with some family, friends and their kids, my brother broke his leg. Nobody’s fault, just one of those things that happen. My mother and my cousin whisked him off to the hospital, and I stayed behind to keep an eye on the kids.

The break (several actually) turned out to be quite a bit more serious than we had expected, and on Tuesday he went into surgery. Four incisions, six pins and one titanium rod later he emerged, mostly, whole. He is currently at home recovering, doing relatively well, and driving his poor, long-suffering wife, up the walls.

What importance, you may be asking, does this have beyond being an fairly mundane family anecdote? A little patience, dear reader, and I will explain.

Today, Friday, I am chauffeuring him to the lab to have some blood tests done. One of the potential complications of such a break is the possibility for blood clots. These can lead to embolisms, infarctions, stroke and heart attacks. The doctors put him on a fairly strong blood thinner to prevent this, and of course it requires close monitoring. Hence our trip today.

Well, this got me to thinking about the state of modern medicine, and all the remarkable advancements available to us today. I think those of us who grew up in the latter portion of the twentieth century often take for granted the miraculous achievements that are available to us. Think about this for a moment. For the whole of human existence, until just about a century ago, man lived his life in nearly constant pain. The everyday use of pain killers such as aspirin for common discomfort was almost unknown. Minor infections and broken bones were often a death sentence. In-Vitro fertilization, skin grafts, Magnetic Resonance Imaging and organ replacements were not only nonexistent, they were virtually unthinkable. Today such miraculous treatments are common-place, everyday occurrences. The same day my brother was undergoing surgery to place a metal rod in his leg to strengthen his mending bone, his mother-in-law was in another hospital having spinal surgery. Spinal surgery. She was home within a day.

Soap-box time.

A great portion of these incredible advancements have happened right here in America, the result of doctors and scientists who unleashed the limitless potential of human imagination and were able to pursue their ideas freely. Debate on a Senate Health Care bill could begin next week, and I don’t think the timeliness of that debate could be more appropriate. As our representatives argue over the strength and weaknesses of legislation that could fundamentally transform the nature of American Health Care I think we should all take a moment to give thanks for the  advancements that have made our lives so much safer, healthier and freer of pain.

In closing I would like to offer a heart-felt thanks to the men and women at William Beaumont Hospital in Troy, MI for the wonderful care given to my brother. He’s an ornery cuss, but we love him, and we thank you for taking care of him.

And to the rest of you who may be reading this, I wish you all the best, and a very Happy Thanksgiving.

Levin’s Letter

I have intentionally avoided focus on the current health care debate, not because I find it unimportant (it is, very), but because it has been covered elsewhere ad-nauseam. However, I wanted to share this little missive, and add some of my thoughts to it.

When I heard about the personal mandates, and that the penalties associated with it could include jail time, I sent off an e-mail to my Senator, Sander Levin, expressing my views on the constitutionality of such penalties. Unfortunately I did not keep that e-mail, but here is Senator Levin’s response, received almost a month later:

Dear Mr. Gossman:

Thank you for contacting me to share your concerns about the public plan option and health care reform. Your views are important to me, and I appreciate hearing from you on this issue.

I am committed to health care reform that keeps the best of our current system and fixes what is broken. This is an important debate that impacts all of our families. I want you to have the most-up-to-date accurate information on the proposals being considered in the House of Representatives so that you may participate in this national dialogue on the future of our health care system.

We all need to ask how health care reform would impact us and our families. If you get insurance through your employer today, you will continue to do so under the proposals.  If you are self-employed or uninsured, you will have the option to purchase insurance through a new Health Insurance Exchange. The Exchange would be a one-stop-shopping location where people could choose to buy a range of private plans or a new public plan. If your income is below a certain level, you will get a voucher that you can apply to any of the private plans or the proposed public plan. If you are on Medicare, that will stay exactly the same, with some improvements.

I also want to be clear about some misconceptions about the proposals. First, the proposals are not, as some have claimed, “socialized medicine” or a “government takeover” of health care. Socialized medicine is a system in which the hospitals are owned by the government and doctors are employees of the government. Under the proposals in Congress, the majority of Americans will continue to receive insurance through private insurers, from private hospitals, and from doctors in private practice. Some people have argued that the proposed public health insurance plan is a government takeover of health care. This claim is simply false. People who do not get insurance through their employer will simply have the choice of signing up for a private insurance plan, or the proposed public health insurance plan. The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office estimates that only about 3% of Americans will be covered by the proposed public plan.

Second, let me be absolutely clear that undocumented immigrants will not be covered under the proposals. Here is what the House health care reform bill says: “SEC. 246. NO FEDERAL PAYMENT FOR UNDOCUMENTED ALIENS.  Nothing in this subtitle shall allow Federal payments for affordability credits on behalf of individuals who are not lawfully present in the United States.” In other words, the House bill explicitly prohibits undocumented immigrants from receiving any Federal dollars to subsidize health insurance.

Despite some misinformation about Medicare, the reform proposals actually improve and strengthen Medicare – by enhancing drug coverage, eliminating co-payments for preventive services, and ensuring Medicare remains solvent for our seniors, among other benefits. One of the components of the proposals would gradually close the donut hole in the Medicare Part D benefit beginning in 2011. By progressively increasing the initial coverage limit and decreasing the annual out-of-pocket expenses, the donut hole would steadily be eliminated, thereby providing more coverage and lower prescription drug costs for thousands of Americans.

Please continue to be in touch as Congress continues to work on this issue. My office will continue to provide information about the latest proposals.

Now, as I’m sure you’ll note, there is no information in this form-letter that directly addresses my question regarding personal mandates (obviously my “views” aren’t really all that ” important” to the Senator. Which of course makes me wonder of much he really appreciates hearing from me). It does however state “People who do not get insurance through their employer will simply have the choice of signing up for a private insurance plan, or the proposed public health insurance plan.” Italics are mine. I have a fairly good grasp on the English language, and as I understand it choice and mandate are mutually exclusive terms. Perhaps I’m wrong.

Finally, I would like to address one other point made in Sen. Levin’s letter: “. . . the proposals are not, as some have claimed, “socialized medicine” or a “government takeover” of health care.” This is patently false, and too glaring a mis-truth to ignore. While it is true that none of the proposals currently before Congress are socialized medicine (as defined in Sen. Levin’s letter), but when the government dictates to insurance companies what services can be offered, who must receive them, and what they must cost, how is that not a “government take-over” of health care?

Whatever final form the health care bills take they will constitute a government take over of health care. Otherwise, why would the government need to be involved?