Shouters obscuring important points

Stuart Weiss, Las Vegas

Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2009 | 2:02 a.m.

I am sympathetic but saddened by the sight of protesters against health care reform. I am sympathetic because I know how difficult it is to make one’s point of view heard. One needs money, organization and a lobbyist. It is no wonder many people are sour, bitter, angry and volatile, even carrying guns to town halls. The guns get attention.

But having one’s voice heard is not accomplished by yelling, comparing a president — any president — to Hitler, or carrying a gun; the heat dries up a discussion that might shed light on the factors to be considered in a discussion of health care reform.

Some facts are indisputable: 1) Health care, whether privately or Medicare insured, is too expensive and about to get more so. 2) People’s homes are being foreclosed on because they could not afford health insurance because of preexisting conditions or various other well-known reasons. 3) People with insurance often wait endlessly in emergency rooms because people without it get there first, and they are there because they could not afford preventive care. I have seen it in Las Vegas.

Once one accepts the problem of high and rising health care costs and premiums, the question is what should be done. Why reinvent the wheel? Plans that might be labeled “Medicare for all” work very well in France, Switzerland, Holland and elsewhere in Europe. Look beyond the anecdotes about long waits. Check for yourself. Google “health systems in Europe” or something similar.