HEALTH INSURANCE DOES NOT EQUAL HEALTH CARE

Health insurance doesn't automatically lead to health care. Today, the average American life expectancy is close to 80, and the fastest growing segment of the American population is adults 85 years or older. While there may not be an actual fountain of youth, we are continually re-defining old age and pushing the limits of lifespan further and further.

Increased lifespan may sound like a dream come true. But it may be a nightmare in progress. Unless we assume far greater responsibility for our health, current increases in longevity spell decrepitude and financial disaster for millions of Americans.

If rates of disease and disability continue at their current levels, America will become a nation of sick, senile, disenfranchised, impoverished seniors, with too few resources to care for them and astronomical medical costs that will cripple our economy.

For example, the average American over the age of 65 suffers multiple chronic conditions, including hypertension, diabetes, arthritis, hearing and vision disorders. This group accounts for one third of all health care spending, one third of prescription drug use and 40 percent of doctor visits.

Over 25 percent of those 85 or older require institutional care. Unless the economic structure of the nation is substantially re-vamped, Medicare will run out of funds by 2029. Suddenly, the idea of living 100 years or more loses some of its luster.

Unfortunately, health care in the U.S. is currently in crisis, and many people have lost confidence in medicine. Medical services are expensive, and insurance is becoming prohibitively costly. And with more and more doctors dropping out of one insurance plan or another, especially government plans, there is no guarantee that you will be able to see a physician no matter what coverage you have. Of course, we're promised by the Obama administration that universal health insurance will avoid all these problems.

Obamacare is facing a perfect storm. First, there is an ongoing court battle to determine the law’s constitutionality. This legal challenge, now at the federal appellate court level, is sure to reach the Supreme Court of the United States, the question being when, not if. The Obama administration is clearly in no rush to see this happen, because if the court rules against them, it will have a major impact on the 2012 election. By 2014, most of the features of the bill, including the individual mandate, will be instituted, the Independent Medicare Advisory Board will be in place, and millions more patients will be signing up for Medicaid or receiving subsidies for individual private policies or paying penalties. Once our health-care delivery system is significantly altered by these provisions, it will be much harder to repeal or remove them.

In terms of the individual mandate, Obamacare’s biggest deception remains the use of the term “health care” in place of “insurance.” For Obamacare is not only unconstitutional in compelling a patient to buy a product, it is also suspect from a public-health perspective since having insurance does not guarantee access to health care.

If the federal government believes it must ensure health care for all as a public protection, much as a mandatory vaccine protects the public from an emerging disease, then the government must do so by providing the doctors, nurses, and clinics to deliver this care. Doctors have long understood that health insurance of all kinds interferes with — rather than promotes or enables — the practice of medicine.

What may be an option to private insurance is getting beaten down by the White House. Health insurers are adjusting their financial underpinnings to guard as best they can against any major reduction in profits. The public needs to be aware of this and take what measures they can to offset the increases in premiums, co pays and deductibles.  Sadly, Congress is looking to limit rather than expand Health Savings Accounts and Flexible Spending Accounts, which if adopted by more in the middle and upper class could go a long way to easing the hikes being imposed on businesses and individuals by health insurers.  Expansion, not reduction of HSA and FSA accounts should be part of real health reform.  Sadly this Congress and President are not about limiting costs to tax payers, but increasing those costs unnecessarily .

Keep your eyes and ears peeled for more information over the upcoming 6-9 months. Educate yourself. Read about your options. Take a stance for YOUR health care. Vote in 2012!