Editorial Health of the Nation Universal Medical Coverage Should Be a Federal Issue, Not State
Posted on: Wednesday, 17 August 2005, 00:00 CDT
STATE Sen. Sheila Kuehl, D-Los Angeles, has got the right idea about basic universal health care for everyone. Health insurance has gotten unaffordable even for middle-income families as premiums continue to skyrocket and coverage gets cut.
The average worker with health insurance now pays more than $204 a month as their portion for insurance their employer provides. But they are still better off than the estimated 6.5 million Californians who can't afford any sort of health care and often only see a doctor in the emergency room.
We are clearly headed toward a health care catastrophe.
But Kuehl's solution to the problem isn't the right one. The ultraliberal Kuehl is again pushing her bill, SB 840, that would create a universal health system in California.
But she ignores all the rules of economics. Her measure would drive up the cost of doing business in the state, bankrupting some and putting others at an even worse competitive disadvantage with firms in other states.
This is not the United Counties of California, but one of 50 states in the nation, one that already has severe economic problems and a poor record of running just about everything. This is a state government that created the energy and numerous other crises and recently had to admit it lost track of 30,000 cars it owns.
Creating a universal health care system is a nationwide issue. And while the states have a vital role in supporting the idea, it is the federal government that must take the lead.
Opponents of the plan rightly worry about the burden on taxpayers and businesses. The state's residents are already among the most heavily taxed in the country and the atmosphere is unfriendly to businesses. The state can't afford to make it any harder.
Kuehl and her supporters mean well and are right that health care is possibly the greatest concern of the public. But if they directed their energy and efforts advancing a nationwide plan, they may have a better chance of affecting some long-term good for all Americans.
The nation's health care system is clearly out of control. But it's not California's responsibility alone to fix it.
Source: Daily News; Los Angeles, Calif.
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