A Health Care Story Without All The Drama

As this debate over health care reform rages on, I find myself wishing that there was a way to explain one's position in a cool, dispassionate way.  I mean, really, we've sort of let passion and emotion run away with the discussion.  It has become about fear, loathing, lies and ignorance.  We haven't talked about it as much as screamed about it.  And I'm as guilty as the next guy.  Isn't there a better way?

Then, BOOM!  It came to me!  Just like that (sound of finger snapping).  Follow me, now... there is a point, I promise you!

I have this steam cleaner I bought a couple of months ago.  It worked great, then it just quit working.  So I called the warranty department who explained that I had to send it to them at my expense.  Then they'd repair it or replace it.  No, I can't take it back to the store.  No there's no place locally I can take it. You know the drill. 

So I packed it all up neatly and  addressed it, and it was ready to go.  Then I went online to UPS's website, and got a quote for shipping it.  Their quote:  $16.35, for standard ground shipping.  Then I went to FedEx.com and got another rate.  Their price:  $22.28.  Finally, I went to the US Postal Service website for a final quote.  Their rate:  $18.69.  Here's where the health care debate comes in.  FedEx and UPS are both private businesses.  The USPS is government run.  I guess you could call it "The Public Option".  And in the face of stiff, non-profit competition from a shady government entity, UPS had the lowest price.

Lesson one:  Private Industry can survive in the face of government competition.

But the saga continues...

So, after lunch with my buddy Silas, I went to the UPS Store next door to mail my steam cleaner.  I explained that I'd gotten a quote from their own website.  The very nice lady at the counter explained that that didn't matter.  The website often calculated the weight wrong.  I said that I'd guessed that the weight was 20 pounds.  She weighed it, and it was actually 17 pounds.  Great!  It should cost less, right?  She said no.  The UPS site is wrong, and it would cost just over $25 to send the box.  "What about my quote?" I asked.  "Sorry."

"Sorry?!"

"Sorry."  And a sympathetic smile.

So I said, "I guess I'll go try the public option."   She wished me luck.

Lesson two:  Competition is good.  Choice is good.

So I took my box to the nearest post office, where I encountered a loooong line.  Dang!  Oh, wait, there's one of those automated mail centers. I went there, and put my package on the scale, and it weighed in at 16.9 pounds.  Cost to mail:  $14.65.  Add insurance and delivery confirmation, and I got it done for  under $17.00.

 Lesson three:  The 'Public Option' gives us choice, and often saves us money.

This was not an emergency.  The cleaner could have been sent any time before the warranty expired.  Heck, I might just go buy a new one if I get tired of waiting.  This is not about a steam cleaner or shipping rates.  This is about health care reform.

Under the current system, when an insurer changes its mind, or decides not to cover an illness or procedure, most people are left with little recourse.  They whine, complain, maybe write a letter or two, then go on and try to pay out-of-pocket as best they can.  Sometimes financial disaster follows.  Sometimes worse.

What the President has promised, and the Congress has a chance to pass, and what Americans have asked for is simply the chance to do what I did:  tell UPS that they cost too much, and I'm going to the post office.