Reform is a myth

I didn't realize that I'm a health care pioneer (Dec. 15 editorial "Solutions for health care").

All this time I thought my husband and I were just a couple of middle-class people struggling to pay health care insurance premiums that have nearly doubled in the last five years.

And aren't we smart to have a high deductible plan that keeps our monthly premium to a mere $1,800 for the two of us?

Last year our premiums and deductibles came to $23,000. In 2010, we will pay $28,000. But that's OK -- we are in the vanguard.

The premise of the editorial was ridiculous, and the condescending tone made it worse. How many people are able, when faced with the prospect of surgery, to haggle with all-powerful insurance companies? How many people have the money to lay out for a high deductible?

We did try to shop around for a more affordable plan. Our current arrangement was the best we could find. Many of the "lower cost, less comprehensive" plans cover next to nothing. One had a deductible of $15,000, but did not cover things like cancer or heart attacks. Buyer beware.

The idea that health care is a commodity like potatoes or shoes is disturbing, and all the more so as we are being urged to think of ourselves not as patients who need care, but as consumers.

After the demise of a strong public option, a glimmer of hope arose in the form of buy-ins to Medicare for people 55 and up. This, too, along with cost control of pharmaceuticals via re-importation, was extinguished.

Now we know. Reform is a myth, and no help is forthcoming. We know who to thank.

Susan Shapiro

Murray Boulevard

Summerville