
                         THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
                 Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, June 18, 1994                    TAG: 9406160027 
SECTION: FRONT                     PAGE: A12    EDITION: FINAL  
SOURCE: Medium 
DATELINE: 940618                                 LENGTH:

ANOTHER VIEW ON HEALTH CARE

{LEAD} Columnist Cal Thomas predicts that if government-managed health-care becomes reality, we will be risking our good health because the government will ``eventually place cost, rather than the value of our lives, as it's top priority.'' What planet has he been living on? What does he think is going on now, as practiced by the American Medical Association?

It is obvious that he is one of the more fortunate citizens who can afford good medical insurance for himself and his family. When he is ill he probably doesn't think twice about making an appointment with his doctor. When he enters his doctor's office he may not even notice the standard-issue sign that ``greets'' the patient with its cheery, heartwarming message: ``Payment is expected at time of service.''

{REST} Let me enlighten him. That little sign strikes fear in the hearts of many not as fortunate as your columnist. That is, if we actually make it through the door into the hallowed halls of medicine in the first place. We may know we are ill but we postpone or completely go without treatment because we can't afford it. Mr. Thomas cites statistics in Canada about people on waiting lists for treatment. At least they can expect help eventually.

In England, he proposes that surgeons have been told to reduce the number of operations they perform. While this may not be ideal, neither are findings that American surgeons routinely perform unnecessary operations, such as C-sections, by the hundreds of thousands each year.

What could motivate our doctors to cut open a person's body, exposing him to higher risk and a longer hospital stay? Why are we greeted by the little sign? Why are dying patients shuffled to another hospital's e.r. if they have no insurance? Could it be m-o-n-e-y?

SHERRY L. DAVIS

Norfolk, May 29, 1994

by CNB