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Deep health-care lesion festers
(by Dave Lange - April 25, 2012)
COUNTY LINE, BY DAVE LANGE
Deep health-care lesion festers
Three items crossed my desk last week that caused me to think about the most divisive issue in America today.
The first was the annual medical-insurance package from my employer indicating that we again are switching providers, with rising co-pays and out-of-pocket expenses. I'm well aware that this benefit has become such a heavy burden on employers, especially for small companies like ours. I'm thankful for this benefit and wish all Americans were so fortunate.
Most of my own medical care is provided by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs due to a partial disability that was caused 43 years ago in Vietnam. Some people in our country believe certain select citizens are entitled to such government-funded health care, while others are opposed to all so-called entitlements. I'm thankful for this benefit and believe that health care should be a fundamental human right.
The second item was an article written by Auburn resident Mark Metz regarding the recent death of his brother-in-law, Mark Lenzi, at 43, a relatively young age when most people are in good health and do not consider medical insurance to be a vital expenditure. Aptly described in the article as a "national hero," Mr. Lenzi was the last American man to win an Olympic gold medal for diving, taking the 3-meter springboard championship in 1992.
He had been hospitalized for fainting spells and low blood pressure, and he was known to have a heart ailment. According to Mr. Metz, his brother-in-law was one of 47 million Americans without health insurance, and he delayed critical treatment because of it.
In the end, despite his own belief that health care is not a right, Mr. Lenzi entered the medical system through emergency care. The unpaid costs of emergency care, which is mandated by the government for the uninsured, are passed along to other Americans through higher medical charges and insurance premiums. Some people in our country, who might be called "death panelists," are opposed to such government mandates.
Finally, a statement disseminated by Ohio Republican Party Chairman Robert Bennett decried "thoughtless accusations" made a day earlier by Ohio Democratic Party Chairman Chris Redfern about newly appointed 98th Ohio House District Rep. Matthew J.D. Lynch, R-Bainbridge.
Mr. Redfern had referred to Mr. Lynch as a "habitual tax cheater." Former Republican state Sen. Timothy Grendell dug up the same old tax liens a year ago, charging that Mr. Lynch's "record reflects a lack of fiscal responsibility and judgment." No word from Mr. Bennett on that bipartisanship.
The GOP chairman did say Mr. Lynch's tax troubles were due to his care for his dying first wife in the early 1990s and being "forced to pay tens of thousands of dollars in medical bills while earning little to no income."
I was among the many people who prayed in church for the late Janie Lynch when she fought her heroic battle against leukemia. I pray today that the financial hardship suffered by her husband and the premature death suffered by Mark Lenzi someday will stop infecting so many people in the wealthiest country in the world.
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