I’m back, Stryker! So here are some random thoughts on the whole health care situation in DC — the fundamental problem being that the discussion is going on in DC.

Let’s face it, the health care system in the US is not perfect, but doesn’t anyone realize it is the best in the world. When was the last time you heard about people being flown out of the US to have medical procedures performed elsewhere that they could not get here? Oh yeah, the reverse is what happens on an hourly basis (with the possible exception of some folks heading off to SE Asia and India for cut rate plastic surgery or elective joint replacement — procedures that were developed, ummm … HERE)! Are there people here who are not covered by insurance — sure — and that has to be minimized. But the fact of the matter remains that ANYONE who walks into a hospital, insured or not, can get medical attention.

So, we’re taking the best system in the world and COMPLETELY overhauling it in one fell swoop. Yeah … that makes sense. This is where I drift back to the sage advice of Edmund Burke (look it up if you don’t get the reference) — reform over revolution! Change, but do so slowly! We can make small changes that would have REAL impact. We could have passed two initiatives months ago that could possibly have made some real progress — allow people to buy and sell insurance across state line, and some sensible tort reform. The former would cause insurance rates to drop like a stone, the latter would drive down costs of delivering health care (ask virtually any physician).

What we have presented to us by congress — though I’m sure no one (including the legislators who voted for it) has a real sense of everything that is in the legislation (House or Senate) as drafted, is a hodge-podge of deals and bad policy that is going to have an enormously problematic effect on our entire health care system.

Hold on to your hats if this garbage passes (which is not likely id Steve Brown wins in The Bay State)!

Bongo will chime in with more details in later segments … when he sobers up.