The Flint Journal (August,26 1990)
America's Healthcare Crisis Deepening
By: Michael Westfall
Our health care system has become a basket
case and is causing the hemorrhaging of America's big-ticket
production capacity by wasting billions of dollars yearly for
inefficient healthcare that is adversely affecting our international
competition.
This
dilemma is nicking away at our economy by forcing upward the price of
every product we produce. This is placing the jobs of millions of
American workers in jeopardy. The cost of medical plans increased 20
percent in 1989 and management attempts to cut health benefits were
the cause of 78 percent of the strikes in 1989.
Health
care costs in this nation eat up almost 12 percent of our entire
gross national product (GNP). If health care costs continue to rise
at today's rates we will be spending more than 15 percent of our GNP
on health care by the year 2000.
Domestic
automakers now spend more than $6000 per year for health care for
each employee or about $680 for each vehicle produced. Assuming
health care costs continue at today's rate of increase, this will
translate into $980 for employee health care costs for every domestic
vehicle produced in 1993.
At that
rate just how much longer will America's premier manufacturing
industries remain premier when Japanese competitors only spent 6.7
percent of their GNP or $223 per vehicle produced, for healthcare?
Ironically, even with the outrageous costs we
spend for health care, we still have 37 million Americans who lack
health insurances and do not qualify for Medicaid, the federal state
program aimed at providing health care to the poor.
One injury
or illness will start victims through a hospital's emergency room
doors, which could take them years of struggling just to pay the
bill.
Many
arrive at the emergency room with expensive problems that if treated
earlier may have been minimized or even prevented.
The
rocketing costs are reflected to tax payers in the funding of
Medicaid and private hospitals.
The health
insurance crisis in this country exceeds even what our largest unions
can hope to address at the negotiating table.
Our social
system is the most envied and successful in the history of mankind.
There will
be very definite penalties for not correcting our health care crisis
if we fail and profound benefits when we succeed.
Copyright 2004: " Web Site Creator/Editor : Bernie Lowthian / America's Workers For Historical Accuracy ": October 15, 2004