About that "Public Plan" Option: Notes from the Warpath

One of the problems with the idea that our government should be running health care is that, to some extent, it already does, and does so poorly (cf: VA, Medicare/Medicaid). But there's one gummint-run health care system that's not getting any press, and that should leave its proponents red-faced:

"Ta'Shon Rain Little Light, a happy little girl who loved to dance and dress up in traditional American Indian clothes, had stopped eating and walking ... she was diagnosed with terminal cancer, confirming the suspicions of family members ... A few weeks later, a charity sent the whole family to Disney World ... She never got to see the castle, though. She died in her hotel bed soon after the family arrived in Florida."

That's because the US Government-run Indian Health Service has become a (funny like David Letterman) joke:

"On some reservations, the oft-quoted refrain is "don't get sick after June," when the federal dollars run out."

It's essentially gallows humor, because the funds do run out about half-way through the year, leaving sickly American Indians with few options, and little hope. In fact, the Fed's are required, based on a treaty dating abck to 1787 (over two hundred years) to provide adequate and appropriate health care to American Indians. We can't (or won't) honor that commitment to a veritable handful of people, yet we're expected to believe that the gummint can handle the health care needs of hundreds of millions of other citizens?

Where's that bridge you were going to sell me?

[Hat Tip: Reader Brad F]