Sen. Nelson oversimplifies health care debate

The following is a letter to the editor, written by Box Butte County Democratic Party Chair, Rich Schommer, that was published in the Alliance Times Herald. - Brian T. Osborn

In Wednesday’s Times Herald an excerpt from an Omaha World Herald
editorial presented a deceptive over simplification of the debate
activists are having over Senator Ben Nelson’s position on health care
reform. While it’s true one group, Change Congress has pointed out
that Nelson has received over two million dollars in campaign
contributions from those connected to the insurance industry, the idea
they are seeking a “government funded” health insurance option is
false. All the activist groups I know of are seeking to get Nelson to
support the same public option for health insurance that the President
is calling for. A public option would not be government funded. It
would be an alternative to the present insurance companies - much like
Nebraska’s public electrical utility companies where we enjoy some of
the lowest rates in the nation.

The fundamental problem with Senator Nelson's position on health care
reform is his long history in the insurance industry. While his
experience in the insurance industry qualifies him as something of an
"expert" in the field, it's precisely that experience that contributes
to his inability to contribute productively to the debate on a public
option in the health care legislation. It's that old "can't see the
forest for the trees" syndrome. Nelson's long association with the
present health insurance model seems to have rendered him incapable of
recognizing that the present situation doesn't require readjusting
that old model. It requires a complete paradigm shift.
Health care can no longer be locked into a private for-profit system.
That for profit model is the root cause of the present crisis.
Virtually all of the insurance companies had their origins as
non-profit mutual aid compacts at a time when hospitals were also
non-profit entities. The system that has evolved through
privatization of those insurance plans and hospitals has produced a
model where fleecing the general population is the norm for both the
insurance companies and the hospitals.
Reform will require insurance companies to stop concentrating on
methods to delay and deny payment for claims, and hospitals to stop
manipulating claims to maximize their billing to insurance companies.
In addition it is going to require regulation of the pharmaceutical
companies & the medical equipment companies. They can no longer be
allowed to manipulate doctors and hospitals into prescribing and
purchasing over priced drugs and equipment that contribute little to
the successful treatment of patients, but add exponentially to the
costs for services.
Senator Nelson needs to shed himself of the present insurance industry
model. He needs to come to the conclusion that health care can no
longer be viewed as a collection of inter-related businesses. We have
reached a point where health care can no longer be viewed as an
industry; it must be seen as a basic human right.