Go slowly in untying knots in health care

The health care debate has turned dramatic, with angry crowds storming town hall meetings, insulting names being thrown around like candy at a parade and rhetoric taking the place of substantive discussion.

But most disturbing is the haste with which reform is being pushed through.

It has taken a lifetime and longer for our health care system to tangle into the mess we currently behold. Do we really think the knots can be undone with a few months of congressional wrangling?

Barack Obama is supposed to be the thoughtful president who ponders consequences and the long term, but when it comes to health care, he seems more interested in scoring a win for the Democrats than doing things right.

To properly reform health care, those inside the system need to play a bigger role. Which isn’t to say that special-interest groups should rule the day; rather, doctors, nurses, health insurance companies and hospital administrations ought to be a more integral, and visible, part of the process by which change is achieved.

At the moment, those who know seem to be on the sidelines while Congress is on the field repeatedly fumbling the ball.

It is simple absurdity for members of Congress — who seem by nature to be far removed from the everyday realities of life — to be figuring out how to fix health care. What do they know about it? What qualifies them to create an effective system?

It is a precarious situation when outsiders attempt to fix something that they don’t understand. It is even more dangerous when the government is doing so.
In the case of health care reform, if government must meddle, it should at least give itself the time and the expertise to do so effectively.

Those involved in the health care field must be brought in and given a more public role, and no timetable should be set for completion of legislation.

When it comes to the health and well being of millions of Americans, there is no excuse for rushing. Take your time, Congress and President Obama.
It may be your political careers, but it is our health.

adapted from the Woodbridge/Manassas News & Messenger