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| June 9, 2011 Shelton Mason County Journal |  |
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EDITORIAL
expansion comes in
By RICK KENNEDY
Today's issue of the Journal
has our latest edition of Healthy
Living, which features Mason Gen-
eral Hospital and the many great
changes they have going on.
This community is fortunate
to have a local hospital that is ex-
panding, and offering new services
and investment, instead of dosing,
or being bought out and regulated
to clinic status as many rural
health fhcilities across the country
have.
Of course, Mason General is not
without its challenges as part of a
huge and complex industry that
truly affects all of us. And, in small-
er areas like Shelton, the impact of
healthcare economics is prominent
because Mason General ranks
among the area's largest employers
and maintains the only local emer-
gency room services.
The overall dismal situation has
not changed much since my days
as a former national beat writer
in 1995, even with the dynamic of
today's battles over Obamacare
and Medicare. In the current en-
vironment of politics and massive
Federal debt, the healthcare issue
remains divisive in the American
conscience.
America's healthcare remains
a complicated, costly, and largely
unresolved issue across the board
from the various providers (hospi-
tals and doctors), consumers (busi-
nesses and patients) and payers
(insurance and government) points
of view.
Costs -- like l~he overall health
industry itself-- have emerged as
oppressive and nearly prohibitive
for many folks, even those covered
by insurance. It is a sad reality
that many folks deny themselves
proper care and doctor's visits be-
cause of the expense and trouble
involved.
Today's $1,500 and $3,000
deductibles can put the hurt on
today's average wage earners,
especially flit is an unexpected
personal or family event, and-then,
there are the insurance companies,
who are not exactly eager to pay
the bills.
Medical bills, however, oRen
represent overhead, h'abflities and
costs beyond the provider's control,
but they are oRen incoherent and
inconsistent. If the idea is that we
are supposed to be "consumers of
healthcare," then how does one
make those purchasing decisions
when charges are all over the map?
However, despite what the pun-
dits of Fox Network would have
you believe, purchasing healthcare
is not the same as purchasing a
new set of tires; no matter what
anyone may want you to believe, it
just doesn't work that way.
It is beyond dispute Americans
enjoy the best quality healthcare
in the world, but the catch is that
it comes at a high price, which is
getting tougher for working people'
and small businesses to afford.
Increased competition and du- ;:
plication of services -- which drive
consumer prices down in the retail,
manufacturing and service sec-
tors - actually drives prices up in
healthcare. Healthcare providers
- with a limited pool of patients-
must recoup costly investments in
technology and talent.
And long before the emergence
of Tea Party politicians, the Feds
were already facing runaway
Medicaid and Medicare costs.
Everything from complicated fee
schedules, payment formulas, re-
strictions and even outright under-
payment have been imposed on the
providers to cut down expenses to
no avail.
After the 1994 downfall of the
ill-fated Hillarycare, efforts to ad-
dress healthcare have largely been
uneven.
The Bush Administration of_
fered the Republican's ubiquitous
tax cut solutions tied in with Medi-
cal Savings Accounts (MSAs). As a
national resolution, this idea has
largely failed. People who could
barely afford $79 for a single doc-
tor's visit were not able to stash
away $2,000 to $4,000 a year for an
MS&
In recent weeks, the Repub-
licans are at it again, citing tax
deductions and vouchers for the
purchase of private insurance as
the magic bulleL However, neither
deductions or vouchers address
escala "m g expenses, and wrongly
assume insurance premiums will
stay consistent.
Back in 1995, it was believed
private cooperatives would curb
the rising tide of healthcare costs
without federal intervention. The
reality has been the advent of
"corporate medicine" in the form of
volume discounts or price-s .
These efforts never curtailed the
continued insolvency and closure
of providers or bankruptcy for pa-
tients, who have seen medical bills
wipe out life savings or far surpass
their personal resources.
Like most folks, I think we all
used to take healthcare for granted,
but today that is no longer the case.
The prospect of annual 20 percent
premium increases has prompted
many employers to reduce health
benefits, eliminate coverage or
beth.
At the same time, insurance
companies are raising premiums
and deductibles to unaffordable lev-
els for the average working family.
And even with higher premiums,
workers are wary of losing coverage
in a time of unemployment or job
change.
As losses cut into the profits of
the insurance industry, increased
deductibles, fee schedules, paper-
work, and the emergence of man-
aged care and capitation through
HMOs, PPOs, IPAs and TPAs have
attempted address the problem.
Over the years, serious ethical
questions and lawsuits on patient
care and physician authority have
derailed these initiatives as viable
solutions.
Escalating lawsuits and tort
reform loom as a factor in raising
healthcare, especially in places like
Oregon and Mississippi, where su-
ing doctors and hospitals are the
equivalent of winning a lottery.
Excessive malpractice coverages
have forced some doctors out of
business and healthcare provid-
ers of all types to raise their prices
to see patients -- that's you and
me -- continuing the troublesome
cycle.
Admittedly, healthcare has no
easy answers as national policy.
If the reader comes away with an
appreciation of the complexity and
difficult nature of the issue, then
this column would have served its
purpose.
l
TO EDITOR
Our wish
is for an
and active
community
Editor, the Journal
The League of Women
Voters Mason County
thanks the Journal for the
front-page article about our
study of the County's Advi-
sory groups in the June 2
issue. Aria Shepard gave a
brief and factual synopsis of
the study.
We were, however, some-
what mystified by the mis-
leading headline. It would
lead one to believe that our
gover~ment was confused.
The confusion was more
on our part. Due to the
help given us by the Mason
County elected and staff
and the work of the League
study group members, our
confusion has been allevi-
ated and we have a much
better understanding of the
system.
It is our hope that the
citizens of Mason County
will take advantage of
this work by reading the
material which has been
posted on our website,
lwvmasoncounty.org. Of
course what we're really
hoping is that citizens
will find it so interesting
that they will volunteer
to serve on one of the
many committee as the
opportunity arises. The
potential is there for a
truly engaged and active
community.
Jeanette B0egl
League of Women Voters
not repair
that entice local govern- eral government is broke, to repair a road doesn'tculvert on Little Mission
ments to sacrifice their Our state is broke. Our real mean it is in our best in- Creek that should have a
autonomy for slavish sub- economic growth is zero or terest to take it. There is much higher priority. Tax-
mission to federal and state less. Just look at gas and no economic benefit to the payer money should not be
coercion, grocery prices if you don't community or the county wasted on this project.
We are in the worst believe me. to repair Lower Elfendahl Mary Swoboda
housing downturn since the Just because we've Pass Road. There are other Belfair
Great Depression. Our fed- been promised free moneyprojects, like enlarging the
Elfendahl
Pass Road
Editor, the Journal
I recently walked the
2007 storm-damaged Lower
Elfendahl Pass Road. There
are no homes on that road,
no powerlines, no visible
infrastructure that would
make repairing the road
economically beneficial. Yet
the county seems intent on
repairing the road. Why?
Government agencies
dangle carrots in the form
of grants to local county
governments. In this case,
FEMA (Federal Emer-
gency Management Agency)
provides grants to repair
storm-damaged roads. The
money (which originates
from unseen and unrecog-
nized taxpayers) doesn't
cover the entire cost, forc-
ing the county to spend
money to get free moneY.
We're told if we don't take
the free money then we will
lose the money. Trouble is,
this free money comes with
strings attached.
Pursuing government
grants may be a necessary
evil, but I can't help but
visualize grant seekers as
grant whores - those who
pursue free grant money,
then bend and twist their
project to fit a grant's re-
quirements in order to get
paid. There are unintended
consequences, usually in
the form of sinewy strings
ON STREET
What do you
creating a $5
Theresa
Kenney-Martinez
"It depends on what their
budget is like - if they'll go
more in the hole. Environ-
mentally it sounds like a
good plan."
think about the possibility of
million Clean Water Program?
Christina Vicki Anderson
Bartholet "For all that I think $5 mil-
"I would be for that. There's lion is a deal. Anything that
nothing more important is good for the environment
than clean water." is good."
Mason County
Barney Stewart
~I"ney spend money on stuff
we don't need - they might
as well spend money on
something we do."
Shelton-Mason County
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Pacje A-4 - Shelton-Mason County Journal - Thursday, June. 9, 2011