Health Care Reform

There have been several Letters to the Editor of The Brazil Times along with countless editorials in various newspapers across America, concerning healthcare and healthcare insurance reform.

I would like to tell you of my experiences with government-ran healthcare and government-ran healthcare insurance. Yes, both of these do already exist. The Veterans Health Administration of the Department of Veterans Affairs provides many healthcare services for our veterans and Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Department of Veterans Affairs (CHAMPVA) provides insurance coverage for the dependants of 100 percent disabled, according to VA criteria, veterans such as me.

At first glance, it appears that someone with access to healthcare and insurance has it made in the shade. Believe me that is not quite the case.

First, there is a problem of accessibility to healthcare. The two nearest VA facilities are in Indianapolis and Danville, Ill. There is a community-based outpatient clinic located in Terre Haute, but it is basically a doctor's office where you talk before you are sent to Indianapolis for any required testing. Personally, I do not waste my time and money to go to Terre Haute to be sent to Indianapolis, I have my primary care handled there.

I have little problem with the healthcare I receive at the VA, however, there is a problem of too small of a system trying to provide for too many people. This would be my main objection to having the government in charge of everyone's health care, that an attempt would be made to address the needs with too small of a system to save money.

In the issue of government-ran insurance, there is CHAMPVA. Now, working with the private healthcare network, the private network submits claims to the VA and expects payment within thirty -- 60 days; CHAMPVA usually gets the checks out between 60-90 days, at which time I usually receive a letter from the caregiver that any portion that has not been paid is going to collections.

Then there is a disparity in the level of care I receive and what CHAMPVA will provide my dependants. An example of this is the smoking-cessation prescription medication, CHANTIX. I can get it from the VA pharmacy, but my wife cannot get it through the VA pharmacy or anywhere else because CHAMPVA will not pay for it. These are two agencies of the same department, yet they are not coordinated. If a drug, service, or procedure is of benefit to people being served by one of the two agencies, does it not stand to reason that it would benefit people being served by the other agency.

Now, many people would agree that we need to do something about the healthcare system and the healthcare insurance system. However, do we want the Federal Government in charge of either?

For some reason, the Social Security trust fund keeps coming to mind, you know, where the money goes in to pay the benefits out at a later date but that is constantly being "tapped" by Congress for other things. Would a government-ran healthcare plan be ran the same way? You could end up paying the premiums only to find that when you needed it the most, you end up denied treatment because Congress spent the money on "earmarks" such as bridges to nowhere.

What say you?