Health finance reform needed

The behavior of opponents of health reform is completely embarrassing and also seems to miss the main point -- our current system of financing health care in this country is completely unsustainable.

With the increases of between 10 and 20 percent annually for private insurance coverage, eventually all small businesses will have to stop subsidizing employee health insurance. Already many companies, large and small, are in effect reducing employees' wages by increasing the amount each must contribute for health insurance -- a process that will only increase over time and harm the average American's standard of living.

Meanwhile, those without insurance often use emergency rooms for their care and end up with hospital bills that they can't pay and therefore harm their credit or end up in bankruptcy. Then the cost of uncompensated care is passed on to those with insurance.

Our public health insurance system is also a mess. Medicaid seems to be chronically underfunded, resulting in large numbers of providers refusing to accept Medicaid coverage. Medicare reimbursements reportedly are also insufficient, yet the expenses of Medicare continues to rise and, with the upcoming spike in the 65 and over population, will bankrupt our federal government by about 2020 without more cost controls being put in place.

Solving these problems is far from easy, or else solutions would have been enacted long ago -- but the status quo is not acceptable. Rather than ranting and raving, the opponents attending town hall meetings should discuss constructive suggestions to these problems. All Americans need to have access to decent, affordable health care, and those Americans with the means (and desire) to pay for "premium" health care services should be free to spend in that manner.