Fix health care system

I recently spoke with a woman who related her experience in dealing with our tragically dysfunctional health care payment system. She had the misfortune of contracting bacterial meningitis, and this resulted in an extended hospital stay.

Since she was self-employed, she could only afford “catastrophic” health insurance. As it turned out, catastrophe is exactly what she got for her premium. It has been awhile since her hospitalization and she still owes $30,000 in medical bills.

This would never happen in Canada, Japan, Europe, Taiwan or even Cuba. Those countries do, indeed, have high taxes, but the people get something back for the money they pay. What they get back is freedom from ever worrying about the cost of obtaining needed health care.

In addition, they, along with their employers, have freedom from the tyranny of insurance companies who dictate which doctor or hospital you can use, how big a deductible you must pay, and whether or not the medical service you already obtained is covered by your policy. As an added benefit, they have more disposable income because the additional tax for health care is significantly less than the premium you pay the insurance company. Let’s fix our broken system.

Daniel Schaffer, M.D.

Spokane