Did you catch headline in The Gazette from the Guest Column by Dr. Mariannette Miller-Meeks titled 'Redesign health care, save innovation'?

One of the tasks we performed this afternoon was to pay our September group health insurance for our company.

It's important to have access to health care and medical care. Our system in the United States of America needs to be improved, but the push to a single payer system is the wrong direction. It's not sustainable. We all should agree that Health Care Reform is needed.

We need to promote sustainable change that will Provide Health Insurance for All.

• Portability: Individuals could take their insurance to their next job or perhaps even into retirement.


• Accessibility: Participating insurers would have to accept all patients, with no exclusions for pre-existing conditions.


• Choice and control: Individual ownership would allow health insurance to evolve into a service that gives patients more control and choice. Coverage options and health benefit plans would no longer be solely determined by employers on the basis of what is affordable for the majority of company employees.


• Improved service: Insurers would compete for an individual's business by offering competitive rates and providing access to networks of doctors. If the insurance plan didn't meet expectations, people could change insurers.

We had the pleasure of having Dr. Mariannette Miller-Meeks as a guest speaker in our neighborhood forum in August. We invite you to read her guest column that was recently published in The Gazette.

Redesign health care, save innovation by Dr. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, Guest Column in The Gazette

Look at programs that the government assist families and individuals in need for food and housing. The government's programs for health care can be very similar through vouchers and debit cards for health care insurance and medical care for those in need. The role of the government should be limited. It should involve over site, but any future system should promote the following ...

• Create Value
  Improve patient health outcomes and satisfaction with U.S. health care. Decrease medical errors, costs and waste. Read details.


• Coordinate Care
  To increase value, patient care services must be coordinated across people, functions, activities, locations and time. Patients must actively participate in this process. Read details.


• Reform the Payment System
  Change the way providers are paid in order to improve health and minimize waste. Read details.


• Provide Health Insurance for All
  Provide guaranteed, portable health insurance for all individuals, giving them choice, control and peace of mind. Read details.

We need true competition in our health care system for tomorrow. That cannot be obtained through a public option. We have found the Mayo Clinic Health Policy Center useful in our discussion of the health care reform debate in the United States of America.

Robin Tucker