Get the facts

The health care debate is reaching a climax in congress, and last week Fort Hays State University held a health care forum sponsored by Forsyth Library, FHSU's Learning Commons and the American Democracy Project. There were three presenters. Radiologist Marilyn Ray spoke about the fact that many people here in Hays die because they can't get the treatment they need. Donna Koenigsman told of having to send sick students home from the student health center without medicine because they can't afford it. And Sunee Mickle from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Kansas spoke of her company's positions. The bottom line: They all support strong health care reform.

I found Mickle's positions illuminating because they were from an insurance company's perspective. She said Blue Cross of Kansas supports a strong mandate that everyone be required to have insurance and not be allowed to easily slip in and out of the system, thereby increasing the number of people in the pool -- especially younger people -- making it more affordable for everyone.

Blue Cross, not surprisingly, does not support the infamous public option, however, they do advocate for government subsidies to help people pay insurance premiums.

And instead of a federal health care exchange for comparison insurance shopping, Blue Cross advocates the idea of "state insurance marts."

This is a state-based approach to allowing people to shop for coverage at a central place where they could compare coverage options. She did mention a few provisions in current legislation that could cause premiums go up for some groups of people and suggested those provisions be removed .

The number of uninsured Americans is 47 million and rapidly rising. One trip to the ER with a CAT scan for a kidney stone or appendicitis can cost $5,000. Half of all bankruptcies are caused by medical bills. Estimates say by 2010 7 million will have lost their insurance because of the recession. As Ray clearly pointed out, America now claims the dismal ranking of 50th in life expectancy and 30th in infant mortality.

If this continues, we will have the best health care in the world, with the worst access to it.

The government is going to get involved at some level, folks, it has to.

All players at the table agree it is time for change. There are times when only government has the resources to provide the framework for systemic change. But attention has to be paid to these changes so that it works the best for everyone.

Turn off the windbags on Fox News and MSNBC and get out and attend forums such as this and learn about the facts. Most of these issues are not black or white as the media likes to portray. The best way to bring health care under control is to get everyone covered, and obviously, there are different ideas on how to get there.

Kudos to the entities at FHSU that for putting on the health care forum that explored some of those ideas.

Brennan Engle

417 W.15th