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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (March 28, 2012)
:$3ortla«i> (Observer March 28. 2012 Opinion articles do not necessarily represent the views o f the Portland Observer. We welcome reader essays, photos and story ideas. Submit to news@portlandobserver.com. Page 9 O pinion T Twe ba § war DEMocRAey reform ' s § K o p s New Prices Effective May 1,2010 Martin Cleaning Service Carpet & Upholstery Cleaning Residential & Commercial Services Minimum Service CHG $45.00 A sm all distance/travel charge m ay be applied CARPET CLEANING 2 Cleaning Areas or more $30.00 Each Area Pre-Spray Traffic Areas (Includes: I sm all H allway) 1 Cleaning Area (only) $40.00 Includes Pre-Spray Traffic Area (Hallway Extra) Stairs (12-16 stairs - With O ther Services)'. $25.00 W5> Health Care Racket for the Cozy Few Vast swaths of people get inadequate care W illiam A . C ollins In m o s t c o u n tr ie s , health care is aim ed at curing the sick. H ere, not so m uch. In the U nited States, health care is a profit cen ter, one o f o u r nation's fe w g ro w th in d u s trie s . Y o u n g people are w isely counseled to pu r sue health-related careers. As a ser vice, it's harder to ship overseas. But unlike other countries, w here the patient is the focus, here the corporate ow ners are. If you don't believe me, please ask U nited H ealth C E O Stephen H em sley. He pock eted $ 102 m illion in total com pensa tion in 2010, so he should know . E ven local health care can be a racket. N o, probably not your ow n general p ractitioner w ho deals w ith y our broken toe and that persistent g o u t. T he profiteers are the clever M D s and hospitals w ho set up testing clinics to X -ray and C T -scan us to death, and to perform m arginal su r by gical procedures. T hat's w here the m oney is. A nd since M edicare and H M O s seem w illing to pay fo r ju st about anything, en trep ren eu rs will test and operate for ju s t about any thing. It's no skin o ff your doctor's nose. If you're lucky enough to be insured, he know s you w on't have to pay for it y o u r s e lf— insurers will. T he m ajo r do w n sid e o f this greed -b ased system is that health insurance is now so co stly that too m any o f us the population to inadequate care. T here m ay be som e other m odem country that also allow s this, but none springs to m ind. W hat do o ur legions o f truly self less health professionals do to co m pensate? T hey volunteer at clinics. Som e serve schools, others veter ans, still others poor neighborhoods. A nd w hen that's not enough, unin sured folks flock to the steadily d i m inishing num ber o f hospital em er gency room s. By law, these have to provide them w ith care, the w orld’s t What do our legions o f truly selfless health professionals do to compensate? They volunteer at clinics. Some serve schools, others veterans, still others poor neighborhoods. can't afford it. T he ranks o f unin sured A m ericans have sw ollen to 50 m illion. O n e m ight argue that any system that leaves out 50 m illion o f us isn't really a system at all. It's a racket. This racket provides cozy incom e to the few at the top w hile abusing the poorly paid health aides at the bottom . It consigns vast sw aths o f m ost expensive. It's a health system only W all Street could love. A nd W all Street does love it. But for them it could be even better. If we could ju s t get rid o f M edicare, which is essentially w hat m any R epubli cans are calling for, all seniors would be forced into the ju ic y private in surance m arket. A nd if w e could ju st tw eak the patent law s, folks w ould have to pay full price for L ipitor forever. O u r sy stem m ak es fo re ig n e rs scratch th e ir h ead s. H ow can a g re a t n a tio n lik e o u rs le av e o n e in six A m e ric an s w ith o u t c o v erag e a n d m i l l i o n s m o r e f o r g o in g d o c to r's a p p o in tm e n ts, m ed ical p ro c e d u res, an d p re sc rib e d m e d i c in e to av o id c o stly d e d u c tib le s an d c o -p a y s? W hy d o esn 't th e g o v e rn m e n t operate, or at least m anage, health insurance itself? H ow can co m p a nies get perm ission to m ake their m edications so expensive for so long? W hy is poverty allow ed to be so ram pant, thereby m aking health conditions w orse? W ell brethren, you're now d rift ing into the realm o f m arket cap ital ism , w hich has m ade this country so great. Every m an for him self! S u r vival o f the fittest! D * evil take the hindm ost! U nfortunately w e've been keep ing the D evil quite busy lately c o l lecting m any souls w hose untreated afflictions w eren't covered by in surance. OtherWords columnist William A. 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