California is facing at least two economic crises. The budget is one, and health care is the other.
The budget is the fault of two groups: the politicians we elect and the people who elect them. We seem to demand that our elected officials lie to us and tell us that there is such a thing as a free lunch. If they refuse to lie and tell us the truth, we throw them out of office and find somebody who will lie and tell us what we want to hear.
The health care crisis is simply the result of greed by insurance companies, drug companies and for-profit hospital corporations.
The average citizen of Japan can expect to live four to five years longer than an American born on the same day, yet the Japanese spend less than half what we spend per person on health care.
In fact, 26 countries have an average life expectancy greater than we do, and none of them spends even half as much as we do on health care. The life expectancy of the average citizen of Cuba, which spends nearly nothing on health care, is nearly exactly equal to the life expectancy of the average American.
We are spending more than $7,000 per person every year for health care and getting diddly for it. How do we solve that? We make it tougher for the poorest and most helpless to get health care. Try not to think about the fact that most of those who will suffer are kids.
Dugan Barr has practiced law in Redding since 1967. He has tried more than 200 civil jury cases to verdict. He is married and has five children. The offices of Barr and Mudford, LLP, are at 1824 Court St. in Redding and can be reached at 243-8008.
