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On health task force
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Posted on Oct 03 2000
The Issue: The creation of a health and insurance task force to review coverage for residents.
Our View: It’s a good start given spiraling costs of health most people can ill-afford even at CHC.
However a robust national economy, some 36 million Americans don’t have health insurance. This, coupled with the continuing debate on the role of Health Maintenance Organizations (HMOs) and prescription drugs for senior citizens, has turned health care delivery tops on the national agenda.
With an ailing economy here in the islands, we quiz how many island residents have kept serious illnesses to themselves–fail to see a doctor–for lack of health insurance policies to pay for health care. The recent rash of family fund-raisers to cover exhausted health insurance policies in off-island medical centers finally brought home the message of the dire situation many families face when confronted with the steep cost of health care delivery.
If we may reiterate, health care cost is that silent though huge expenditure in any country worldwide. The CNMI is no exception. Its residents must vigorously partake in the formulation of health insurance policies for a population that has become proned to acute and long-term illnesses wrought by the pressures of modernity. It is especially alarming a phenomenon as residents adopt the potato-couch culture, glued to the tube rather than engaging in physical activities to stay healthy.
The labyrinth of issues in health is such that health insurance policies, while a major factor to ensure that all receive proper health care, is just the tip of the iceberg. We have a lot of ways to go and the sooner the task force is created, the better off we will be in addressing and resolving both short and long-term health care issues. We thank the administration for taking the lead on this matter and hopefully soon we would be able to debate specifics based on the required report of the task force six months after it is fully established. Si Yuus Maase`!
