WHY OBAMA'S HEALTH CARE PLAN WON'T WORK

It is said that we have the best health care system in the world. It is also the most expensive.

Can it be improved?

The answer, of course, is yes. And, it must be improved... With thoughtful evaluation of what is wrong, what alternatives are available, what plans must be put into effect, and what the costs will be.

Why can't the government just...do it?

For starters, ask yourself how the "just do it" approach worked with TARP, stimulus, and bailout. We will never know where all of those billions and trillions of dollars went that WE and our descendants our now obligated to pay back.

But, there's more. Let's talk about how successful and adept the Government is is managing Medicare. This would be a good comparison, would it not? More than 34% of processed and paid claims for wheelchairs, oxygen supplies, and other equipment in 2006 was misspent....questioned by auditors. 31.5% of the medicare claims processed and paid had missing or incomplete documentation. Over $1 billion per year in waste and fraud.

What do you think a full-blown government mandated and government operated health care system is going to look like?

Would that $1 billion pay for health-care insurance premiums from private companies to cover care for those who are under-covered or not covered at all?

If we Americans are going to have the opportunity to talk about health-care and the options, isn't this a good first question to ask? "Mr. Congressman, if we cut the fraud and corruption in the Medicare system, can we actually save enough money to fund health-care for those who don't have it?"

If we don't ask questions, if we don't demand the right to explanations and discourse so we have an educated chance to recommend "we the people" decisions to Congress, who can we blame but ourselves if their plan doesn't work?