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Guest Blogger Wes Shannon has worked in the insurance and financial services industry for over 25 years in Fort Worth, Texas. A Fort Worth native, Wes is a proud Texan and promotes Texas’s cultural values. Please feel free to contact Wes for a comprehensive financial and insurance review.

I know this is political heresy, but I disagree with either of the two premises of the health care reform debate. Understand the difference between health care and health insurance. The reform debate seems to have blurred those lines, but either way:

• First, there is no health care crisis in this country
• Second, there is no health insurance crisis either

These contradict the widely accepted premises behind what you are told by the media, politicians and even AARP, so I understand skepticism. Today, let’s examine the “health care crisis.”

Health care is available – even to the uninsured. We have what is widely viewed as the best health care in the world. While we need more general practitioners, particularly in rural areas, that isn’t what’s being discussed. The proposed legislation will not increase the amount or quality of health care that is available. What is being discussed, or was, before the crisis switched to insurance, was health care being provided for those who can’t afford it. It was about cost only. Well, the law already provides that you can’t be turned away from emergency room treatment just because you can’t pay.

Since emergency room treatment for minor ailments or chronic conditions isn’t very efficient, some communities have expanded their available services. I live in Tarrant County, Texas, where we have a very good county hospital system with an array of neighborhood clinics in addition to a large hospital with a tremendous reputation for emergency care. They treat uninsured people when they get hurt or sick or have babies. The charges for care are based on ability to pay, and the cost of the system is subsidized from property taxes in Tarrant County. The total cost is substantially less than the cost of the public school system. So where is the crisis? There is health care for everyone. If you want to go to an expensive private hospital on a non-emergency basis you have the choice to buy coverage for that. Or you can go without insurance to the county hospital or clinics. Yes they have longer lines – that happens when something is “free.” You think Obamacare won’t have waiting?

Let’s get back to a more basic question. Why is good health care so expensive? There are a few factors. One is bureaucracy. The government regulates medical expenses for seniors through Medicare and for the destitute with Medicaid. Insurance companies negotiate and regulate expenses leaving the patient/consumer out of the equation. But if you look at medical procedures that are not covered by insurance and Medicare such as cosmetic surgery, lap-bands, LASIK (eye surgery for nearsightedness) – all of these procedures have been getting less expensive and better quality due to improvements in technology. They operate in a free market! It is not more government regulation we need but less!

Next time: my claim that health insurance is affordable to everyone!

Wes Shannon has worked in the insurance and financial services industry for over 25 years in Fort Worth, Texas. A Fort Worth native, Wes is a proud Texan and promotes Texas’s cultural values. Please feel free to contact Wes for a comprehensive financial and insurance review.

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