Hea th care is broken and needs fu overhau

Re: “Lawmakers’ tinkering threatens our health care,” Feb. 21 commentary

It’s time to fix what has been broken for a long time.

Denver Post columnist Krista Kafer’s assertion that health care in Colorado is not broken so don’t fix it is absurd.

Premiums, deductibles and co-pays continue to increase at much greater rates than inflation.

Coloradans are delaying and forgoing care that is unaffordable — even for those with insurance.

Personal bankruptcy due to health care bills is rising.

Her premise that there is “little fat in the system” is inaccurate. Consider the analyses of our state’s Department of Health Care Policy and Financing. Colorado Hospitals reaped large profits for the last five years, even after cost-shifting paid them for Medicaid, Medicare and no insurance shortfalls.

Rural hospitals are not so fortunate and should not be put in the same context.

Current COVID-19 impacts will not be the ruin of our hospitals. Protests from hospitals and insurance companies are expected. They have cried this forever. Their interests are in preserving their status quo. It drives their profits.

Fundamental change is needed. Simplistic free-market arguments don’t apply.

Hospitals set prices based upon contracting and payor mix projections — not upon their actual cost of providing services. They set charges well above actual costs because they discount them for commercial insurers. Consequently, paying patients can pay 30% to 40% more than Medicaid or Medicare patients for the same service — not exactly free market.

References to health care in Britain and Canada are irrelevant. Current, first-hand stories of Colorado patients and families are. Listen to them.

Colorado health care shouldn’t be fiddled with. It needs fundamental redesign.

Michael Chisholm, Englewood Editor’s note: Chisholm has more than 35 years in hospital management and administration.