Continuing the Conversation: Health Insurance and the War on Drugs
I questioned some of his statements as follows:
Congressman Woodall,
It’s difficult to keep track of a conversation not being able to reply to emails, but I am impressed that your reply to my earlier concerns actually sounded like you actually read it and didn’t just kick out a template based on subject matter.
I would like to point out something about Medicare as it exists now vs vouchers to buy private insurance as an individual which you may not have personal experience with. I am 50% owner of a small consulting business, and thus have to purchase health insurance for myself and my daughters in the individual market. My wife is disabled, and thus on Medicare. Except for a few quirks in what medicines are covered in her Part D plan, her insurance is immensely better than what I have. The thought of never getting out of that hole (I am currently 51, so it really doesn’t help me that people currently 55 and older won’t have this issue.)
Also, there will not be any real health care reform accomplished by moving around the path of our health care dollars without reducing that actual amount of dollars. I know this evokes preaching about “death panels”, but wouldn’t our money be better spent keeping everyone healthier longer than spending a large percentage in futile efforts to keep people “breathing” (note I am not using the word “alive”) for an extra hopeless week or two at the end?
For creating a new healthcare system (as opposed to putting band-aids on the existing train wreck), I just finished reading Dr. Doug Perednia’s book Overhauling America’s Healthcare Machine: Stop the Bleeding and $ave Trillions, and I highly recommend it to all 537 of you and your staffs.
On the war on drugs, punting it back to the states doesn’t work, especially given the recent noise from DOJ that they may prosecute people in the medical marijuana business ( and even state employees) in states where it is legal. Like with health care, if it isn’t a comprehensive solution it won’t cure the underlying problems, such as the Mexican Al Capones.
