/MUNGUIA TO BUSH9.15.04

> Dear President Bush:
>
> The new increase in the Medicare premiums is another indication of the
> disastrous situation of medical care in our country.
>
> I am not interested in assessing who is to blame for the law that
> determined the increases. I am interested in solving the medical care
> quandary. You insist in your speeches that we should "own" our medical
> care programs. It seems to me that this is another way of telling us
> that we are on our own as far as medical care is concerned; that you and
> your party are not interested in doing anything about it.
>
> I don't think that this is the right solution. On the contrary, we need
> to AGGREGATE our BUYING POWER as health care consumers to bring down the
> cost of medical care, including the cost of medicines. You don't have to
> do it on your own, you have at your disposal the brightest minds in
> America. It should be quite possible to design a couple of solutions
> that will meet this essential need of the American people.
>
> Respecfully, I would like to outline here some ideas:
>
> 1. We need to eliminate the insane ineficiencies of the claim process.
> A uniform methodology should be used, regardless of who the provider
> is. Billions will be saved.
>
> 2. We currently spend, as a nation, $1.55 Trillion in health care. Use
> this number to cap the cost of any plan or policy that you may want to
> sponsor. The need is not to spend more, but rather to use our health
> care dollars judiciously.
>
> 3. Open the medical drug markets to the global trade. Concentrate the
> government efforts on guaranteeing the safety of the drugs not on
> controlling the markets. Your party always proclaims its adherence to
> free markets.
>
> 4. Sponsor legislation that will protect the private pension and health
> care benefits promised by employers to their retirees. The GAO just
> made this recommendation on Wednesday, September 8, 2004. If you want
> to minimize government involvement, make sure that the private sector is
> not faltering. Strengthen ERISA and sponsor other pertinent legislation.
>
> 5. Offer to businesses a government-based option to purchase group plans
> for their employees and retirees at competitive prices, the same way
> that large corporations have been able to do. These options could
> aggregate hundreds of thousands of businesses, nation-wide, to bring
> down the cost of care. Let any other willing entity (consumer
> organizations, retiree associations, insurance companies) offer
> competing plans. Free market.
>
> 6. Open the medical drug markets to the global trade. Concentrate the
> government efforts on guaranteeing the safety of the drugs not on
> controlling the markets. Let Medicare participate in the bidding
> process, as any other free market force. The recent Medicare Drug bill
> must be amended.
>
> 7. Resist the pressures to come up with politically attractive gimmicks,
> while the situation deteriorates to tragic levels. I think everyday
> about the 45 million Americans that don't have health care coverage, I
> hope you do too. An example of a gimmick: "let's provide coverage to
> all children under 18". The majority of the uninsured are adults, in
> fact, the parents of those children without coverage and many others.
> What will happen to those children if their parents are medically
> neglected and become disabled or died? Another gimmick: "let's control
> the law suits against the doctors and hospitals and we will solve the
> health care problem" . If you believe that statement, remove the actual
> cost of liability insurance from the $1.55 Trillion when establishing
> the cap.
>
> I think that you are terribly late in providing your vision of a healthy
> America this election year. I am looking forward to your public
> statements with a clear position on this issue.
>
> Thank you.
>
> Manuel Munguia
> 10 S. 260 Hampshire West
> Hinsdale, Illinois 60527