MAILBAG:Insurance industry buying Harman

It is unfortunate the Daily Pilot has given a forum (“Harman enters health fray,� July 26) to State Sen. Tom Harman, a politician who, through the 2006 election, has taken $250,000 from special interests with a stake in maintaining the current system.

The article largely rehashes the standard health insurance industry talking points, most of which, on closer examination, are not true.

OK, Sen. Harman, we get it. We can’t fix the health insurance nightmare because of illegal immigration. Yes. We understand immigrant bashing is the key to victory in the 2008 election. So to fix health care, we now need to talk about health care and immigration. OK.

Let’s start with health care. In 2000, the World Health Organization examined the performance of health systems as measured across a wide range of indicators.

Unfortunately, the U.S. ranked a dismal 37th based on that analysis. This listing has not been repeated, we believe, due to pressure from the Bush Administration. However, in 2007, the WHO report did list the percentage of Gross Domestic Product spent on health care. America spends 15.4% of GDP, the highest in the world. The 36 countries that outperform our health system spend an average of 7.9% of GDP on health care. All 36 of these countries have Single Payer Universal Coverage.

This is not that difficult, Sen. Harman. People in these countries get better overall health care while at the same time paying less for it, regardless of what insurance companies want us to believe.

People say, “My employer pays for health care.� Unfortunately, the cost of health insurance is built into your paycheck. Let’s say total compensation is $50,000 per year. If it costs $7,700 for a comprehensive health insurance policy, your employer will pay $50,000 minus $7,700, or $42,300 as salary. Health insurance comes out of your pocket, whether you realize it or not.

So, 15.4% minus 7.9% equals 7.5% of GDP.

Where is that money going?

Answer: into the bank accounts of rich people. Health insurance and prescription drugs are money machines. Rich people are getting richer real fast. To protect this windfall, they are happy to invest a few pennies on the dollar in politicians like Sen. Harman. Frankly, given the job he’s doing, we think the senator should ask for a raise. He’s selling out his constituents way too cheaply.

Why did Sen. Harman rip into Michael Moore? Because “Sicko� shows the insurance industry talking points are not true. If you don’t like the message, attack the messenger.

What about immigration? If Sen. Harman wanted to end illegal immigration, the solution is simple � severe penalties and stiff enforcement for corporations that hire undocumented workers.

But Sen. Harman will not climb onto that bandwagon. Why? Because that would interfere with yet another money machine. Rich people are making a killing from cheap immigrant labor.

Sen. Harman is in favor of punishing the little guy so we create the illusion that we are doing something while at the same time we give hefty contracts for border enforcement to the same people who profit from immigrant labor.

Immigrants are bad. Rich people who profit using immigrants are good.

Who would Jesus punish? We get the logic, senator.

JOE TYNDALL is a resident of Costa Mesa.HOW TO GET PUBLISHED

Mail to the Daily Pilot, 1375 Sunflower Ave., Costa Mesa, CA 92626. Send a fax to (714) 966-4667 or e-mail us at [email protected]. All correspondence must include full name, hometown and phone number (for verification purposes). The Pilot reserves the right to edit all submissions for clarity and length.