Why Is health Care Reform So Hard ?

Did you ever wonder why it is so hard to reform our health care system. Especially since it's so obvious to most people that the health care system is badly broken. There are some 50 million people that have no health care insurance at all, and that number is growing each month as more people lose their jobs.

In addition, many people who thought they were lucky to have private health insurance are finding out that insurance coverage is not as good as they thought. Some lose their insurance as the medical bills start to climb. Others find the insurance pays only a portion of the huge medical bills, thus forcing them into bankruptcy. All find their health care rationed by an employee of an insurance company (whose bonus depends on how many claims he/she can deny).

Of course, all of this is happening at the same time that health care expenses are rising at an exorbitant rate. Every year, health care costs more and the insurance companies cover less. It should be easy for our senators and representatives to see that serious reform is needed.

So why are so many Republicans and "Blue Dog" Democrats balking at making any real changes? It's not hard to understand, when you see the ungodly amount of money being thrown at Congress by lobbyists for the big players in the health care and insurance industries -- the people who are getting rich off the current health care mess.

Consider the figures below. These are the amounts spent to fight any real changes in the system. And remember, these are figures just for the second quarter of this year (April, May and June).

American Medical Association..........$4 million
Eli Lilly Pharmaceuticals..........$3.6 million
U.S. Chamber of Commerce..........$7.4 million
Business Roundtable..........$6.1 million
Glaxosmithkline..........$2.3 million
Bayer Corp...........$1.9 million
America's Health Insurance Plans..........$1.9 million
Novartis..........$1.8 million
Metlife Group..........$1.7 million
Sanofi-Aventis U.S...........$1.6 million
Johnson & Johnson Services..........$1.6 million
Allstate Insurance..........$1.5 million
Merck & Company..........$1.5 million
New York Life Insurance..........$1.5 million
F. Hoffman - La Roche Ltd...........$1.5 million
American College of Radiology Assoc...........$1.2 million
Siemens Corporation..........$1 million

All of these millions are going to basically protect the status quo. How much is being spent to protect the average American and get him/her decent health care and insurance? The answer is nearly nothing. So don't be surprised when Congress fails to fix the health care mess.

Oh, they'll pass some kind of health care bill, but I seriously doubt it'll solve any problems for ordinary Americans.