COMMENTARY Health Reform: Arkansas Impacts
Monday, March 1, 2010
Editor’s Note: This is the fourth guest column from Professor Rob Leflar about health policy. Obama’s health reform package is staggering toward the finish line. Forget politics. If it passes, how would it impact Arkansas? What about if it fails? This Q&A should clarify matters. Q: Are Arkansans more or less in need of health insurance than Americans generally? A: More in need. About 520,000 Arkansans lack health insurance, higher than the national percentage. Major reason: Arkansas has a high proportion of smaller employers. Smaller employers are less likely to provide insurance for their workers. Most uninsured aren’t unemployed. They’re in families with full-time breadwinners. Q: Would Obama’s plan help or hurt Arkansas ...
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Opinion, Pages 5 on 03/01/2010
Comments
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Professor Leflar, here's what you need to do a better job of explaining. If people without insurance costs are already being taken care of "by the rest of us," what is the benefit of us subsidizing the costs of their insurance? You're obviously smarter than any of Arkansas' legislators, right? Tell them how they can vote for any bill and get reelected.
Posted by: nwarkansastimeseditor
March 1, 2010 at 2:17 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
As to where the money will come from - the Feds? And where do the feds get the money, if not from us?
As to the loyal opposition - you should not so readily dismiss those of us with reasoned opinions against the current "reform". You're better than that Robert.
Posted by: MAG
March 2, 2010 at 8:39 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
As someone who has spent the last 25 years of my professional life either buying health insurance for two small companies or selling it to companies and individuals, I would gladly forego my career in order to embrace the reforms that are being proposed. Why? Because our present system of paying for health care is a disgrace. As an example, the Bentonville campus of Northwest Health pays between 1.5 million and 2 million dollars per month to treat patients who have no health insurance and wind up in the emergency room. Who pays for the healthcare of these people? Those who have health insurance. If these people had health insurance, chances are they would have sought help long before their medical condition became so excruciating painful and costly to deal with. In the meantime, the CEO's of companies like United Health make hundreds of millions of dollars. Dr. William McGuire, then CEO of United Health, made 123 million in 2005. Unfortunately, Professor Leflar's op-ed column is dismissed by those who have fallen prey to the sophisticated PR campaign that the entrenched health insurance industry has waged against reform of any type. When the Republican leadership wants to "start over" with regard to reform, they are, in effect, wanting to destroy any efforts to reform the broken system. Truth be told, they think everything is just fine when, in fact, the current health care system is analogous to a "chronic infection" that thwarts economic growth. Professor Leflar's comments are not written by some "egg head" intellectual but by a guy who gets it. Unfortunately, there are too many irrational people who want to hold his intellect against him and, in doing so, drive our great country deeper and deeper into an economic funk for which we will may never regain productive sobriety.
Posted by: hawgfan25
March 2, 2010 at 1:42 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Way to go hogfan25, you said it well and you work for the industry. I a big slice of raison pie for you!!!
As for the loyal opposition. Have you ever been turned
down for health insurance for having cancer ? I have.
Posted by: humble
March 2, 2010 at 5:50 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
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