Health care fix a long time coming

George Will in his June 28 column said the "Health-care 'fix' is something we'll likely regret." Is he joking?

Who hasn't sat at their physician's office, watching lunch being delivered by a go-getter drug rep? Many people must decide between food and their medications, while drug companies shower medical offices with luncheons and other favors paid from coffers overflowing with drug sales profits, drugs pushed by the physicians.

On the other hand, insurance companies are friends of neither physician nor patient. Medical staffs must pre-certify miscellaneous procedures based upon unique plan requirements. Should pre-certification be missed, the carrier denies payment. This pits patient against physician. The physician's staff must submit claims fast, carriers withhold payment as the physician writes appeal after.

All of this wastes time that is, ultimately, billed as "health care costs." Unique, confusing claim requirements, incompetent insurance staffing and under trained physician staffs leave patients harassed or threatened by collections agencies, as their good credit evaporates.

On the other hand, the food industry, as broken as the financial and medical industries are, repeatedly issues food recalls, pumps non-nourishing products, labeled as "food," into central grocery isles, next to other chemical compounds and cleaning agents, while real foods like dairy, meat, fruits, and vegetables, are relegated to the outside walls. The "cheap" processed foods fill stomachs but leave people with diabetes, heart disease, and other ailments that drives them through the medical system.

In the entire broken food, insurance, and drug industry scenario there is much to regret, but fixing the health care problem is not one of them. It should have been done years ago.

Gail Talbot

Huntley