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Show The Salt Lake Tribune OPINION , January 22, 2000 AS U.S. Health Care System Isn’t Working NASHUA, N.H. — Mark Dier- COKIE ROBERTS STEVE ROBERTS auf and Bill Faller are selfemployed “piano technicians” who retune and retool instruments for aie Ask what's bothering them these days and time” her carrier to pay for special treatments at a Boston hospit they hueye give the same don’t have the money,” said the teacher, as she waited for her teenage daughter to finish danc- Dierauf, ees is single has no insurance atall. Faller had a policy through a trade association, ing lessons.“It’s tough, it’s tough, especially when you thought but since that was cancelled several years ago all he canafford are minimal benefits for himself and UNITED FEATURES SYNDICATE his two kids. Covering his wife, who has serious medical probJems,is just too expensive. last year by the Washington Post “The system is not working,” says Faller, and he'sright. Like mostof the country, New Hampshire is booming. The job power of insurance companies in marketis so tight that fast food outlets pay signing bonuses for health care. Money can’t buy good health, and in many cases it can’t buy peace of mind, either. Even folks who have insurance are often fu- rious andfrustrated witha system that seems far more interested in cutting corners than in curing patients. about“what worries Americans.” No. 1 out of 51 choices was the making medical decisions. No. 3 was the costof prescription drugs and No. 5 was the fear of losing medical benefits. This is good news for the Dem- ocrats. Voters give them a wide edge over the Republicans on health care issues and leaders admit they’re concerned. Majority Leader Dick Armey vows that when Congress reconvenes next week, strengthening patients’ rights will top the Republican agenda. It is still unclear whether Re- As dozens of conversations with New Hampshire voters make publicans are serious abouta bill or just posturing. But as Armey plain, this issue affects virtually every family in some way. Even education and Social Security don’t have quite the same impact. from actual experience. If candidates wantto reach into American homes andhearts this — healthcare is the best way to doit Ai Gore and Bill Bradley deserve credit for proposing ways to broaden insurance coverage, but they’ve lapsed into this ae sniping about whose plan is better. Admitit, guys, you basically agree, stop squabbling. Our findings square with a na- tionwide survey conducted late Holdingthe fish closer to the camera makes it appear larger. “Td pay the bills myself, but I answer — he new workers. The one disturbing ripple in this pondofprosperity is through her husband. To make matters worse she has breast cancer, and she’s having a “real tough concedes,“there’s a lot of change in public awareness”abouthealth issues, and that awareness comes Some folks simply can’t find affordable insurance. Others see their HMOs going outof business, leaving them high and dry. aa aildone atthe end of the mont its local branch.“Now wehave to go looking again, and I’m not happywith that.” A school teacher worries that after her impending divorce she'll Jose her benefits, which now come HMOs were the answer, and you find out the hard waythat they're not.” For other baby boomers the real problem is not themselves but their agin parents. Cindy Herweckwas stunned to discover that 10 days after her mother had a stroke, the insurance company forced the elderly woman to leave the hospital and enter a nursing home. “Wehad to beg for care,” says Herweck,a financial executive in a medical supply firm. Her husband Steve was even angrier: “The incentives‘in health care are on the wrong end. They get paidfornotdoing stuff. It’s flat out, absolutely bogus!” After Don Buskey’s mother died in a nursing home the gov- ernmentput a $20,000 lien on the family house to recover expenses Or learn to catch bigger fish, each Tuesday in Outdoors. paid out byMedicaid. Irv Grace’s motheris in a home now and in two months “all her moneywill be gone.” The two friends, retired factory workers, have been drai DheFattLakeTribune ‘What gets you going. by the experience, finan- cially and emotionally. Too often, this is focusing on issues that don’t matter to average voters:gays in the mil- itary and subsidies for ethanol, flying the ponteseate flag in South Carolina and returning a 6year-old boy es‘Cuba, The candidates should be talking instead aboutreal-life, every day con- cerns. And they should start with health care. dreamon NewYears Resolution Sale! Fri. & Sat. Only! 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