Historically, health care has not been thought of as a right
““ at least not in the same way liberty is thought of ““
but professionals discussed the intricacies of America’s
health care system and the universal right to health care on campus
Wednesday.
Filled with policy experts, health care professionals and
politicians from across the nation, Royce Hall was the site of a
health policy forum which discussed, among other things, how the
two main presidential candidates plan to fix the health care
system.
The event, hosted by the National Health Policy Council and
sponsored by other organizations, was meant to provide an
opportunity for professionals to explore the various problems
plaguing America’s health care system and potential
solutions.
During the seminar concerning the financing of health care
solutions, panelists agreed that the rapid modernization of
medicine would increase the quality of health care, as well as the
price.
“(Preventative medicine) costs a lot of money. If you have
a choice between getting a pound of gold or a pound of Lipitor (a
popular cholestrol-controlling drug), choose Lipitor,” said
Peter Kongstvedt, vice president of Managed Care Practice Capgemini
Health Consulting.
Perhaps one of the most animated seminars of the day brought
together representatives from President Bush’s and Sen. John
Kerry’s campaigns. The two representatives cordially butted
heads as they made cases for their candidate’s respective
health policy plans.
Both representatives ““ Bridget Taylor speaking on behalf
of Kerry and Monica Tencate on behalf of Bush ““ have had
extensive experience working with members of Congress as they
crafted various health care bills.
Tencate touted what she called the virtues of Bush’s 2003
Medicare Bill, saying it was “the largest expansion of health
care in 40 years” and that the bill was looking into legally
importing prescription drugs from Canada. Taylor, on the other
hand, spoke about Kerry’s proposal, which hopes to help
employers provide health care insurance for all their
employees.
While the two agreed that access to adequate health care needs
to expand, they differed on how the government should go about
alleviating the country’s health care problem.
“It’s a consumer-driven approach to compete in a
free market,” Tencate said about Kerry’s policy.
“A large program means it will be a bureaucracy, because it
needs lots of regulations and layers,” she added.
Taylor responded to the critique of Kerry’s large
government-run health care plan by saying, “Yes, the
government is paying. However, it’s through private plans.
… It’s a good way to make a safety net for people that need
it most.”
Taylor also responded to the fear voiced by Tencate that health
care would become too big to be effective, saying Kerry was
“encouraging rather than mandating.”
Another major contention that arose in the discussion centered
around Health Savings Accounts, which are “designed to help
individuals save for future qualified medical and retiree health
expenses on a tax-free basis,” according to the U.S.
Department of the Treasury. The moderator of the event, Ian
Morrison, described the accounts as similar to 401Ks and said his
largest worry was the fact that he could not tell exactly what was
deductible and what was not.
“Our research indicates because it’s so confusing,
there are anal retentives who balance their checkbooks (and) know
where the money is going … and then there are those who are like
teenagers and think people are stealing money from their
wallet,” Morrison said.
One of the main aspects of Bush’s Medicare Bill centers
around the increased emphasis of such accounts, and Tencate
supported them by saying they had limited out-of-pocket costs and
covered prescription drugs.