Editorial: Questions that need answering
The Joplin Globe
Jopliin, Mo.

The current emphasis for pushing for immediate passage of health care reform proposed by President Barack Obama is to ensure coverage of individuals without exclusion of pre-existing conditions and to control the increase in health insurance premiums.

Are insurance premiums going up, such as the recent 39 percent increase in California, strictly as a result of seeking more profits or higher salaries for executives? Or instead are premiums going up because the cost of medical care is going up? That still needs to be made clear.

If auto insurance rates were going through the roof, would there be a bill to control those insurance companies? Or would we first ask why the rates were going up and see if the costs to repair damaged autos or provide for medical payments under such policies were going up? If the latter was the case, would we instead focus on why repair costs were going up and propose legislation to control those increases?

As for providing coverage for pre-existing conditions, will such provisions cause the cost of reimbursements under such policies to go up? While we agree with the reform, we have to ask what will keep rates from going up.

We wonder why the proposed bill does not address the costs of doctors, hospitals and other medical providers rather than the people insuring for those costs.

We will repeat previous observations along these lines. Health insurance is so expensive because medical care is so expensive. Why not reduce the cost of health care and see what happens to insurance premiums?

There are problems and there are symptoms of problems. Let’s focus on the problem in the search for solutions.