Health care should not be a luxury. High quality, essential health care is a right we must guarantee. To do that economically, we must spread the costs, cut the middle-man, and focus on prevention.

Unfortunately, President Bush and Congressman Kline seem to be fine with the status quo, in which more than 40 million Americans see the emergency room - the only place where care cannot legally be denied - as their primary source of care. Beyond those 40+ million are the tens of millions more who do have some private insurance - policies that keep costing more but covering less. These underinsured are in the cruel position of paying more for insurance and more in out-of-pocket costs, especially if they have any history of health problems like heart disease, cancer and diabetes.

In defending his vote against expanding children’s health insurance, John Kline said that we should avoid "reckless funding schemes" to bring about affordable health care. But continuing to rely on emergency care adds unnecessary expense that is borne by all of us. By any measure, that is a reckless funding scheme. We can’t keep denying that our system is broken – and that politicians like George Bush and John Kline have stood in the way of progress for too long. If they were truly interested in saving Americans money, they would be first in line to bring about meaningful change. Unfortunately, they are most interested in preserving profits for drug companies and insurance companies.

It is fiscally irresponsible to make timely treatment and prevention less affordable for those who most benefit from it: children and those with chronic health conditions. That is what makes Congressman Kline’s position against expanding affordable health care to more kids so puzzling. Every dollar spent on preventive care and early intervention is paid back many times over through fewer days missed at work or school, gains in productivity and less expensive treatment. The old adage rings true: an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

One of the reasons preventive care and early intervention are not universally available is because insurance companies limit our health care choices. Simply put, insurance companies ration health care in America. And lives are lost as a result.

It doesn't have to be this way. Most modern countries enjoy better health at a fraction of what Americans pay. They live longer. More of their babies live to see their first birthday. You read that correctly: in the United States, where so many of us assume we have the best health care in the world, our health lags behind other nations even though we spend more per capita than any other nation - approaching $7,000 per year for every man, woman and child. To guarantee affordable health care and improve the odds of better health for all Americans, we must do the following:

1. Cut the middle man. Excess complexity and administrative costs make up between 15 and 40 percent of America’s health care expenditures. According to at least one Mayo Clinic physician, his employer deals with well over 1000 different payers. Handling all that paperwork costs a lot of money that could be spent on direct health care. We should also detach health care from employment. Having your boss be the go-between for you and your doctor isn’t working for employees - who lose coverage when they change jobs - or employers - for whom the rising costs of employee health plans are making American companies less competitive in the global marketplace.
2. Spread the costs. We should pool our resources and use bulk purchasing power to negotiate with drug companies for lower prescription drug prices. When President Bush and Congressman Kline supported Medicare Part D’s prohibition on negotiating lower prescription drug prices with the pharmaceutical industry, it clearly showed whose side they were really on, and it wasn’t ours.
3. Focus on prevention and timely care. This reduces pain, suffering, unnecessary costs for more intensive treatment, premature death, loss of time from work, and enhances quality of life for those with chronic illness.