Health-care reform a painful, necessary step

It's no surprise to anyone who has tried to get medical insurance that the costs are just shocking. And for those of us who have insurance, I'm sure that you have noticed that our premiums have started to become an uncomfortably large part of our budgets.

But we're lucky -- we have insurance. There are plenty of people out there who have no medical coverage and have lost everything because of medical bills.

The actual costs of our health are just too high for us to live with. As a nation, we spend more than 15 percent of our gross domestic product toward health care, and the way things are going, economists expect that percentage to double by 2030.

Why are these costs so high and still expected to increase? Why does an MRI cost more in America than in China, India, Vietnam or Mexico?

Unfortunately in the U.S., costs are inflated by the fact that roughly one-third of medical expenses are incurred by the underinsured/uninsured. Many who cannot afford coverage initially choose to forgo medical insurance. Then when catastrophic events occur, their savings are wiped out by these medical bills and the remaining costs will be passed on to those who can pay.

In addition, the current tort system forces medical service providers to practice defensive medicine and pay insanely high premiums for malpractice insurance.

What's coming out of Washington has been frustrating and divisive, but necessary.

Let's be realistic, if it doesn't come from our government, who will drive health reform? I don't think we can expect the insurance companies or the medical providers to do that.

So the government will have to take the reins and provide the driving force behind the discussion, and health-care reform. But let's face it, change is always hard. If it isn't comfortable, then we'll dig in our heels and fight every step of the way -- even though it may be the best thing for us.

A key component of this change is the need to lower the costs of our health care. To have any meaning and lasting effect, reform needs to address this root problem.

Provisions for tort reform and better medical record-keeping need to be considered. How can we make medicines and other health supplies more affordable?

Pharmaceutical companies have to charge high costs for their product because of the testing and trials, not to mention their profit. Likewise for anything else that requires FDA approval.

As we lower costs, we also need to address the way we provide health-care coverage. I'm not altogether comfortable with a public option. After all, what aspect of the government operates efficiently, let alone budget-neutral?

Our government's solution to our problems is to add additional layers of regulation (in essence, spend more money on it) or bail it out (spending even more money on it). Whatever we decide to do, there has to be an affordable option or a basic health-insurance package.

I'm not an economist and I don't make policy, so I may be out in left field. But I do realize, and I think that most of the country realizes, that to reform health care, we will have to pay for it, and it will be painful. I just don't see how a plan that costs more than $820 billion will not raise our taxes or deficit.

Reform will not happen in one fell swoop, nor will it be done soon. Our first attempt at health reform may fail miserably, but if things don't change for the better, then I'm afraid that we and our children won't be able to afford to be healthy.
Eric Lin is a Realtor at Keller Williams and a business development consultant with the VIE Group. He can be reached at .