4A | OCTOBER 29, 2020 | COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL
Cottage Grove Sentinel
116 N. Sixth St.
Cottage Grove, Ore. 97424
NED HICKSON , MANAGING EDITOR |
Opinion
541-902-3520 | NHICKSON @ CGSENTINEL . COM
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Political/Election Letters:
Wrong healthcare questions are still being asked
monwealth Fund naming
us dead last among the top
11 industrialized countries
for overall healthcare dol-
lar-for-dollar.
While there are many
reasons for healthcare’s
While watching the local
and nation candidates dis-
cuss healthcare, I couldn’t
help but be struck by the
irony that most of the same
people haggling over what
health coverage Americans
should have access to are
the same people who have
complete coverage paid for
by taxpayer dollars.
It’s no wonder that the
real question that cur-
rent members of Congress
should be asking has yet to
be raised: Why is health-
care so expensive to begin
with?
At $3 trillion a year, the
cost of healthcare in the
U.S. is nearly twice as much
as any other developed
country. In fact, according
to Consumer Reports, if
that $3 trillion healthcare
sector was its own country,
it would be the fifth-largest
economy in the world.
And even though we are
outspending other indus-
trialized countries nearly
2-to-1, the World Health
Organization (WHO) re-
cently ranked the U.S. a
dismal 37th in healthcare
systems — with The Com-
only 900 beds.
The reason?
Billing specialists are
needed to determine how
to bill the varying require-
ments of multiple insurers.
Why the need for multi-
From the Editor's Desk
Ned Hickson
astronomical costs in this
country — from defen-
sive medicine practices for
avoiding lawsuits, to the
“branding” of healthcare
providers similar to de-
signer clothing (the bigger
the name, the more money
they can demand from in-
surance companies) — the
same two cost factors rise
to the top of the list:
• Administrative costs.
• Drug costs.
WHO studies, Consum-
er Reports and even health
economists like David Cut-
ler at Harvard University
agree that those two factors
are the driving forces be-
hind skyrocketing health-
care costs. On average, 25
percent of healthcare dol-
lars go to cover administra-
tive fees.
In an interview on the
PBS News Hour, Cutler
gave the example of Duke
University Hospital, which
has 1,300 billing clerks and
ple insurers?
Because more and more,
single insurers can’t cover
the rising costs of medical
procedures and drug pre-
scriptions, particularly at a
time when the median age
in America is 40.
In most countries, gov-
ernment negotiates drug
prices with drug makers,
which virtually guaran-
tees lower prices. Howev-
er, when Congress created
Medicare Part D, it spe-
cifically denied Medicare
the right to negotiate drug
prices. At the same time,
the Veterans Administra-
tion and Medicaid aren’t
under the same restriction
and pay the lowest drug
prices.
According to Congress’s
own Budget Office, if
Medicare Part D recipients
received the same discount
as Medicaid recipients, the
federal government would
save $116 billion over the
next 10 years.
Imagine the money
American taxpayers would
save if those on Medicare
could benefit from the
same Medicaid-negotiated
drug prices?
One has to wonder why
Congress is so opposed to
weighing in on controlling
the cost of prescription
drugs and healthcare as a
whole, and what — if any
— role those who benefit
most from that $3 trillion
industry play in that deci-
sion.
As taxpayers, we are
America’s shareholders —
and Congress is our board
of directors. It’s time we ask
why the board of America,
Inc., isn’t pursuing a more
cost-effective healthcare
plan that will guarantee a
better return on our invest-
ment, which in this case
literally puts lives at stake
physically and financially.
Rather than bickering
over ways to pay the astro-
nomical costs associated
with healthcare and pre-
scription drugs, Congress
needs to slow down and
address the issue of con-
trolling those costs in the
first place.
Establishing affordable
healthcare isn’t as much
about how to pay more but
about how to pay less.
I am curious as to why
there has been no discus-
sion concerning the new
homeless town being con-
structed behind the post
office.
From what I understand,
this facility will contain 15
plastic private suites for
the homeless which will be
heated, have wi-fi, fenced
in for security, have Bucks
toilets supplied, possibly a
mobile shower facility and
food.
I think this should have
been brought to the pub-
lic’s attention before being
done.
Send letters to:
nhickson@cgsentinel.com
HOW TO CONTACT YOUR REPS
Oregon state
representatives
Oregon federal
representatives
• Sen. Floyd Prozanski
• Rep. Peter DeFazio
District 4 State Senator
PO Box 11511
Eugene, Ore. 97440
Phone: 541-342-2447
Email : sen.fl oydprozanski@
state.or.us
(House of Representatives)
405 East 8th Ave.
#2030
Eugene, Ore. 97401
Email: defazio.house.gov/
contact/email-peter
Phone: 541-465-6732
• Rep. Cedric Hayden
Republican District 7 State
Representative
900 Court St. NE
Salem, Ore. 97301
Phone: 503-986-1407
Website: www.leg.state.or.
us/hayden
Email: rep.cedrichayden@
state.or.us
• Sen. Ron Wyden
405 East 8th Ave., Suite
2020
Eugene, Ore. 97401
Email: wyden.senate.gov
Phone: (541) 431-0229
• Sen. Jeff Merkley
Email: merkley.senate.gov
Phone: 541-465-6750
S entinel
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LETTERS
Public input needed for
new homeless camp
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Many people in this
community do not want a
first-class homeless shelter
to attract new homeless to
Cottage Grove.
—Stephen Nisewander
Cottage Grove
Editorial
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