Kansas Republicans should follow Carlson's example
By Brad Lowell
Not much of a fuss was made in the Blade-Empire on July 28, 1965 when the second most popular social program in the nation’s history was approved by the United States Senate.
The passage of the 1965 Medicare Bill was pushed to the top left of the front page and only demanded a one column headline. The main story that day was the report that 50,000 more troops were being sent to Vietnam.
On that day 57 Democrats and 13 Republicans voted for the Medicare bill, a bill that is exceeded in popularity only by the the legislation which established Social Security.
Now Congress has an opportunity to pass a bill which history could recognize as the third most popular bill of all time. That bill will be the health care reform act of 2009.
The lone Kansan to vote in favor of the 1965 Medicare bill was Concordia’s own Republican Sen. Frank Carlson. Bob Dole, a Republican congressman at the time, voted against the proposal.
It took courage for Carlson to vote yes, but he also had voted for the bill establishing Social Security when he was a member of the House of Representatives.
There do not seem to be any courageous Republicans in the Kansas delegation this time around.
As a matter of fact the dean of the Kansas delegation, Pat Roberts, in an attempt at humor, warned against riding into a health care box canyon full of spending quick sand, cactus tax hikes and policy briar patches.
Subsequently, comedian Stephen Colbert on his late night television show donned a cowboy hat and boots, put a piece of straw in his mouth and did a parody on Roberts. Colbert’s portrayal of Roberts as a hayseed Senator from Kansas was not very flattering to Kansans.
Since some experts estimate that 122 people die each day because they have no health insurance, the humor escapes me.
As a small business owner and a Republican, I’ve often told Roberts that taxes will never put us out of business, but health care insurance premiums might. Businesses pay taxes only if they make money, while health care premiums must be paid or employees lose their insurance.
Republicans are always big on tax cuts as a way to stimulate the economy and pay lip service to wanting to help small businesses. I would suggest instead of a tax cut for small business, why not subsidize the health care premiums of those small businesses like ours that provide coverage for their employees.
I wonder if the members of Congress who voted against Medicare look back and wish they would have voted differently. I suspect most of them would be too stubborn to admit they were wrong. The success of Medicare is living proof their judgment was flawed on this issue .
The thing that makes me most angry about those who don’t want reform are the countless stories about human suffering of those who can’t afford health care insurance and the tales of big insurance companies who reject claims or won’t pay for certain procedures.
Recently, the point was driven home when I learned of a good friend whose health insurance company won’t pay for a needed transplant. The friend took care of himself, didn’t smoke and lives a life of moderation.
Although the family is looking into alternative methods of paying for the transplant, time is running out.
Congressman Jerry Moran tells me every time he sees me that health care is nation’s number one domestic problem. Yet, he is locked in a senate race with an ultra conservative and probably can’t vote for any health care reform sponsored by the Democrats.
So, Sen. Roberts or Sen. Brownback, make Frank Carlson proud by standing up and making a difference for my friend, for Kansas, for the nation, and for your conscience. After all, isn’t this a moral issue?
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"After reading your opinion on the health care reform bill i would like chance to offer mine. First off, I agree with you that Medicare was a good idea. However, i dont know if i would necessarily say that people who didnt vote for it in 1965 are ashamed that they didnt vote for it. I wasnt alive at that time but i can only imagine it had the same kind of holes and problems that this current reform bill has. I havent really read any articles about the Medicare bills but if it was jammed through as quickly as this bill is being jammed through i could understand why Bob Dole didnt vote for it. I get fed up with this idea of changing things just for the sake of change. Dont get me wrong, not all change is bad. On the other hand, it seems like the Obama administration is doing this so quickly just to say they changed something. There are huge holes in the bill and the fact that it will end up costing over 1.25 trillion dollars is the least of my worries. We are all for creating new jobs and stimulating the economy. What happens with the insurance companies if this thing passes through. Many of them will end up close up shop because they cant afford to stay in business. Now whether you like insurance companies or not, they provide alot of jobs. I have worked in healthcare as a nurse now for 15 years and it has made me even more of a Republican. Thats right folks, people in healthcare can be Republicans. However, after seeing some of the inequalities in treatment it makes me even more against this horrible bill. I have several ideas on how to decrease healthcare costs, especially in medicaid. Encourage patients to go to their primary physicians. Working in the ER you dont know how many times patients will come in for the simplest of problems. I asked a patient, who's child is on medicaid, why she didnt just take the child to the primary care physician. She said, "if i go to the doctors office i have to pay a copay, if i come to the ER i dont have to pay anything". Some you might not think anything of it but there is a drastic cost difference. A trip to the doctors office is 75-100 dollars depending on where you go. An ER visit at minimum in the hospital i work at is 800 dollars. That is just for you walking through the door and being looked at. Lab work can be in upwards of 50-100 dollars a piece, Xrays can cost thousands. You would be amazed at how many Xrays are taken that dont need to be taken. So on average, a person who comes in with the common cold and cough would probably have a bill or 1500-2000 dollars when all they have is a cold. If they go to the doctors office the bill would be less than 200. So i ask, why not encourage people to go to the doctors office instead of the hospital and why not have it so people can go their for free. Another issue is lawsuits. I understand that there are many lawsuits that are viable and should be taken to court but it has gotten way out of hand. Doctors are ordering tests that costs millions if not billions of dollars a year to avoid lawsuits that say they didnt do everything possible. So patients come to the hospital in hopes of making money. Is that right? Malpractice insurance is sky high and guess who the doctor has help pay the bill. I know that the health care system needs changed but there are ways of doing it without spending outrageous kinds of money. In closing, i would just like to say one more thing to Mr Lowell. Please dont start jumping all over our state republicans for not voting on this bill. There are alot of Democrats who havent voted for it as well. Also, there is nothing else that gets on my nerves more than when owners and editors of newspapers use their position to spew their opinions on matters such as this. News outlets are suppose to be unbiased and not take sides but it is obvious you dont follow that. Finally, i find it ver hard to believe you are a Republican after reading this article because you act more like a bleeding heart Democrat"
