Facts, Reason and Logic Are Useless Arguments

One of the reasons to support health care reform is that we’re already paying for the uninsured anyway. I recently had a two-day stay at the Queen’s Medical Center in Honolulu. I received truly excellent care -- for which I am most grateful -- but the cost was more than $17,000. That's just the hospital bill. The surgeon's fee is yet to come.

Today’s Honolulu Advertiser reports that local hospitals are receiving more than $14 million dollars from the feds – our tax dollars – to “help defray the cost of providing service to uninsured and underinsured patents.” Note the phrase “ … help defray … ” which clearly means these federal funds don’t begin to cover all the costs.

The rest of the shortfall is made up by those of us with health insurance. When we use hospital services, we’re charged several times more than what would ordinarily be a fair price. And the health insurance companies charge us higher premiums than would be necessary if everyone were required to have coverage.

Of course, that would be socialism, wouldn’t it!

Wait a sec … don’t we require everyone to have car insurance … and fire insurance … for exactly the same reasons? Indeed we do ... but just imagine the screeching from all those right-wingers if their car insurance premiums were doubled to cover the cost of fixing wrecked cars of people who didn’t have insurance.

But silly me ... I keep thinking rational argument will decide this issue.

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