Quality of care not the problem

Published 1:25 pm Thursday, July 2, 2009

One of the major focuses of President Obama and his administration is finding a remedy for what they refer to as the health-care crisis in the country. Before Congress moves too far down the path of developing solutions, we would be wise to first clearly define what the problem is that we are trying to solve.

If the focus is on dealing with the cost side of the equation, most of us, on all sides of the political spectrum, will be unified on the need for solutions. The cost of health care is increasing rapidly and these cost increases impose a heavy burden on businesses, government and families. But if we are defining the crisis as one of poor health-care quality, we are trying to fix a problem that doesn’t exist. When we look at the quality of care, and the breadth of innovation within health care, the U.S., driven by free-enterprise principles, is the leader, not the laggard. Yes, the cost of this ever-improving care is a problem that sometimes hurts the availability of medical care for some Americans. But let’s not assert that the problem is quality and thereby throw the baby out with the bath water.

Certainly, there are areas where additional governmental regulation might be needed. But we must seriously question to what degree government is the solution or the problem. Many of the current proposals being considered in Congress would likely not decrease overall cost, yet would very likely worsen the quality of care. As we move forward, let’s be willing to look at innovative ideas, but let’s also be careful and ensure that we not develop a knee-jerk solution before we have clearly defined the problem. Then let’s look to the ingenuity of American innovation, not governmental controls and mandates, to come up with answers.

Mark Guymon

Everett