I think we can

Wednesday, March 21, 2007

By Richard Anderson

I was talking to my dad on the telephone, complaining about health insurance – how every six months, like clockwork, I get a letter from my insurance company informing me of yet another rate increase; how changing companies for a more affordable plan allows the new carrier to declare certain ailments or conditions “pre-existing” and therefore exempt from coverage; how the “health insurance crisis” has been a “priority” of “lawmakers” for well over a decade (remember the “Jackson Hole Plan,” drafted back during the Clinton Administration by Dr. Paul Ellwood right here in Teton County? What ever happened to that?), and yet nothing seems to have improved since then …

“Well,” my dad said, “why don’t you do something about it?”

“What in the world can I do about it?” I asked, whereupon my dad reminded me that we here in the United States have the right to speak out, to call our elected officials, to demand accountability, to inquire about how much money companies spend on non-health-related expenses such as lobbying and CEO bonuses.

“Nothing’s going to change unless people demand it,” he said.

I was going to whine about how – what with work and household chores and chasing after a 19-month-old boy and trying to get a little exercise on a sort of regular basis – I barely had time to sit down to catch my breath, much less write my Congresswoman.

But I suspected the old man would see through that line, so I just agreed with him. We finished our conversation, catching up on other news, and I hung up and turned my attention to said 19-month-old, who was trying to climb onto the dining room table.

I grabbed him, sat him on my lap and asked if he wanted to read a book with me. He indicated he did, toddled over to his bookshelf and picked out a volume from the 200 or so possible titles. “The Little Engine That Could.” Wouldn’t you know it.

“I think I can, I think I can, I think I can,” I read, puffing like the little blue engine, the pointy end of the irony poking me right between the ribs. I’m still not entirely sure I can do anything about out-of-control health insurance costs, but I now think I’ve got to at least try, if only to set a good example for my son.

First thing on my to-do list is to write this editorial and to implore each of you to join me in a letter-writing campaign to our elected officials, and to not accept the same old political non-answers we’ve received in the past.

Second thing will be to try to gather that data about how much health insurance companies are wasting on lobbying. If enough of us get involved, I’m sure we can bring about any real change we want.
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I think we can | Planet JH News Article: Editorial

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