For the wealthiest nation in history, when it comes to health care coverage we have a set-up that is worse than many Fourth World countries. At present, believe it or not, there are over 45 million Americans who do not have health insurance, and who therefore burden our hospital emergency rooms when they need a doctor. Moreover, it is estimated that 18,000 adults die each year because they are uninsured, and can?t afford medical care, and can?t afford to pay for necessary prescriptions or treatment. And that statistic doesn't even count children!It?s no news that the cost of comprehensive health care insurance continues to escalate in America, while our conservative Republican national government, ever ready to protect Big Pharma?s corporate profits, forbids buying drugs in Canada (or elsewhere outside our borders). Employers who have offered health insurance benefits have backed off in recent years, dumping more of the burden on their employees. For those who aren't employed at all, or have a job with no benefits, the situation is even worse. For many of these people, their incomes simply won?t stretch to both food and medicine, forcing some very painful choices.
And in Virginia, it's no different than the rest of the country. In fact, it's possibly even worse in some of our more depressed areas, where Bush?s Great Economic Recovery has not yet reached.
So what is Jerry Kilgore proposing to do about this situation? Well, he is promoting programs that he claims are an answer. However, after taking a close look at them, I have to ask myself: do these programs add up to a doable, workable solution likely to be passed by a notoriously stingy legislature? Or are they yet one more flashy publicity sleight of hand designed for the election, but never intended to come true in real life?
For example, Kilgore proposes to establish tax credits to encourage families and employers to buy long-term care insurance. The cost to the Commonwealth of this plan, however, is unknown.
Besides the ever-popular tax credits, Kilgore hopes to use information technology (IT) in order to cut health care costs and to increase ?patient safety.? In light of frequent Republican efforts aimed at protecting insurance companies from malpractice suits and at clamping down on so-called "frivolous lawsuits," I take it as a hopeful sign that Kilgore, at least claims he wants to protect patients. One wonders, though, whether this is simply rhetoric.
Meanwhile, Kilgore's IT proposal raises some potentially troubling privacy issues. Specifically, how would health care information that is collected in this way be used - by state government, by employers, and by insurance companies? Last but not least, the cost of Kilgore's IT proposal is, once again, unknown.
Kilgore's final health care proposal is to encourage each of us to establish one of President Bush?s so-called "Health Savings Accounts." This is a scheme whereby you get tax incentives to save money in a separate bank account to cover medical costs, sort of the way my mother used to tuck dollars in different envelopes to cover different monthly expenses. Of course, all this assumes you actually have some money left over each month to save. Good luck!
At the same time, the national Republicans -- who, incidentally, are running Kilgore?s campaign -- also have decided that we all need several other "envelopes" to tuck our dollars into: retirement accounts in addition to Social Security, education accounts for our kids, down-payment-to-buy-a-home accounts, long-term care accounts, health savings accounts, and so on. But what if we don?t get paid enough to cover basic costs like food and rent, when are we going to be able to accumulate all these other savings?
Also, notice that there is no cost estimate on Kilgore's Health Savings Accounts idea. In fact, about the only specific price tag Kilgore ever mentions regarding his health care proposals is a vague ?additional $20 million" over 4 years to the Virginia Health Care Foundation to build rural health centers.
It's true, Kilgore's health care proposals do touch on real difficulties Virginians face -- at least rhetorically. However, it remains utterly unclear how Kilgore intends to pay for them, especially when one recalls that Kilgore opposed Governor Warner?s modest revenue package passed just over a year ago.
Given all this, it's extremely difficult to see how Kilgore can deliver on his health care promises, not to mention all the other proposals he?s been running up the flagpole, while keeping the state financial boat from running aground.
Of course, the standard Republican answers to the question, "how are you going to pay for all this?" are: 1) "cut waste and inefficiency," and 2) hope that a booming economy will cause money to roll in. Unfortunately, it is extremely unlikely that either of these two possibilities will provide sufficient money to fund Kilgore's health care proposals. They are simply not credible.
Even worse, Kilgore's plans lack any consideration at all for low-income people or for the elderly -- except for a gesture toward long-term care. In other words, Kilgore apparently does not care about you unless you have some money.
In sum, I give Jerry Kilgore a bit of credit for taking a stab at the obvious, glaring problem of health care. However, I have to give him very low marks for the seriousness, affordability, and helpfulness of his ideas. Right now, unfortunately, it seems that Kilgore's words on this subject are just promises and gestures -- nothing new for him, sad to say.
That's why, for action on health care and many other areas, we need Tim Kaine as our next governor. A vote for Jerry Kilgore, in contrast, would be nothing less than bad for your health.