Brian Drumm wrote on February 3rd 2010 9:50 PM

Having a chronic health issue myself, health care reform has been my main issue since before the last failed attempt at reform. I'm now more cynical about the political process than I have ever been after watching this spectacle of democrat overreach and, even worse, the republican's childish, petulant "take-my-ball-and go-home" obstructionism. I fear the only way this will get done is if it's done for the wrong reasons. Health care companies have fallen in love in recent months with the idea of getting 30 million or more new customers dropped in their laps. We should capitalize on that. I couldn't agree with d long more when he says this should be an issue of human decency, but if it gets done to make health insurance companies richer, which is probably the only way any republicans will get on board, then let's do it that way and fix it later. Just get SOMETHING done. (Party names not capitalized on purpose. Neither deserves deserves the honor, and I find myself wishing for a sub-lower case "r.")

d long wrote on February 1st 2010 8:26 PM

Ms. Collins is wrong. Spend some time with people who cannot afford healthcare and can't get help until a crisis arises. Spend some time with people who have been ruined financially and lost everything because their health catastrophe was uninsured. This is not a cost allocation issue. It is a human decency issue. Just as we should protect the life of the unborn, we should protect the health and dignity of the living. I oppose big government but our healtcare system deserts human beings and causes them to die and lead shorter lives without quality. We should not allow ourselves as a nation one more luxury until this gap is closed. I hate taxes but if paying more taxes goes to protect all of us from untimely death, it is money well spent. If we are not willing to pay for this pro-life program, we are not fit to be called human.

kay collins wrote on February 1st 2010 11:48 AM

I sympathize with Dr. Carroll and his family. It must be very difficult to have a chronic, life-threatenting illness, and I might want others to cover my costs if I were ill, also. However, I think we must face that health care, like all other highly emotional issues, can only be funded at the expense of something else. This country does not have a bottomless supply of money. If we fund one thing, something else will not get funded. Perhaps health care is where we want to put the majority of our funds. If so, what will we not fund? I have been an educator for almost fifty years, and I have watched education put huge amounts of money into "special ed." I have seen anyone who questioned this policy vilified as uncaring, even monstrous. Who could deny these poor souls an education. And yet, I know that every dime that went into supporting individuals who would never be able to return any value whatsoever to the system was given at the expense of funding programs for the "average" student, students who are the backbone of the American life and tax base. I have watched education get watered down and dumbed down in most cases because of lack of funds. Dr. Carroll's agenda may not be political, but it is certainly self-serving. He has appealed to us in the same way special ed parents have been pulling at our heartstrings for decades by putting the sad cases before us and demanding that we not be fiscally responsible. Health care reform should begin with reforming the system that exists. Take lawsuits to arbitration not to court. $20 aspirin pills should be weeded out. Research with no direct benefit to the public as a whole should be sent into the private sector. These are just a few of the miriad problems of the current system that cause excess spending and a health care system that's out of control. Make health insurance, insurance, not health care that covers every little thing. Patients should not be running to the doctor for every simple illnesses unless they are prepared to pay for it themselves. When I was growing up my parents paid for their health care. We did not go to the doctor for a cold; we used common sense. I have no proof of this, but I don't think health care is so expensive because of disaster illnesses. I think it's out of control because of misuse.