WHY THE PRESIDENT SHOULD VETO SCHIP

Fred Barnes has an article in the Weekly Standard in which he debunks the analogy used by many Presidential candidates, including Mitt Romney, comparing mandated health insurance to automobile insurance. As Barnes explains it, the health insurance proposals being talked about would all require everyone to have health insurance. The difference with car insurance, is that only those who own and operate vehicles are required to have it, and many of them drive without it, anyway.

CANDIDATES GO CODE BLUE ON HEALTH CARE

The LA Times had an interesting article in Sunday's edition called "Candidates go Code Blue on Healthcare". The article talks about the plans offered by the Democrats and the Republicans. When it comes to the plans of Obama, Hillary and Edwards, the article points out that they differ in details and ambition, but diagnose the problem the same way. Not enough people have health insurance. The one big change each plan would make is that insurers would not be able to refuse coverage or charge higher rates based on preexisting conditions.
The Republican plans take a very different approach. Their plans are all based on the assumption that healthcare costs are skyrocketing because the American people use their doctors too much. Their idea, make us pay for care directly rather than for premiums. How do they propose to do that? Well, Rudy Giuliani for example wants to provide a fixed tax exemption for health insurance of $7,500 for individuals and $15,000 for families. Romney's plan would do away with state regulation of insureres. It will be interesting to see what we end up with, if anything at all.

HOW BIG A PROBLEM IS LACK OF HEALTH INSURANCE?

Dick Morris, who I detest for his attacks on Senator Fred Thompson, has a question for Hillary Clinton and it actually is a reasonable question. Morris says:

"you base your healthcare proposal on the need to cover 47 million uninsured Americans. Since about a third of them are illegal immigrants and another third are eligible for Medicaid right now and just don't apply for it, aren't you overstating the problem?"

The right figure for the number of Americans who do not have access to health insurance is much less than 47 million.

DIABETES - THE EPIDEMIC SWEEPING AMERICA

If you or a family member or loved one has diabetes, you will readily understand the seriousness of the situation.

BILL FRIST HEADS TO BANGLEDESH

Dr. Bill Frist continues his work to help cure illnesses and poverty around the world. For the next ten days he will be working with Save the Children in Bangledesh. Dr. Frist is firmly committed to using medicine as a currency for peace. Those of us who respect and admire Dr. Frist can only hope that his mission succeeds.

BILL FRIST: WORLD HEALTH

I came across another article that interested me, just because of the pure magnitude of what former Senator Bill Frist wants to accomplish. The New York Sun ran this article on August 10, but again, I think it is well worth reading. The article mentions just a few of the many tasks that Senator Frist is undertaking: " working to overhaul health care in America, researching the origins of animal-borne viruses, performing heart surgery in Sudan, visiting refugee camps in Chad, and going to Bangladesh to work with Save the Children."

PORKERS OF THE MONTH

Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) has named Max Baucus and Gordon Smith as the Porkers of the month. Check out the article. CAGW sees the SCHIP legislation that they are pushing as the first step in creating government controlled universal healthcare.