Zaniya Project: Give 'Em a Call!

As the Zaniya Project Task Force meets this summer to figre out a way to help South Dakota's uninsured, I worry that we'll end up with a recommendation that the state mandate the purchase of health insurance by all citizens. After all, what other sort of solution would we expect from a governor who is also an insurance agent?

I say nuts to mandatory private insurance. If we're going to monkey with the free market, why not just abandon it and make health care a public utility?

I'm sending Kevin Forsch, senior advisor to Gov. Rounds and primary contact listed for the Zaniya Project, the following e-mail. I would urge everyone interested in affordable and efficient health care to make their voices heard to the task force as well.

Dear Mr. Forsch:

Please forward this message to the members of the Zaniya Project for discussion at their next meeting on July 12.

As a firm believer that the health insurance industry encourages over-utilization of health resources and diverts excessive funds to administrative costs and profiteering at the expense of working South Dakotans, I urge the Zaniya Project Task Force to research and recommend the creation of a unified state health risk pool for all South Dakotans. Whether South Dakota can afford a single-payer system of its own, or whether we would do better to create a cooperative risk pool with surrounding states, a single-payer system would bring down costs and fulfill our moral obligation to take care of the sick and the poor.

The document linked here offers a brief analysis of how a government single-payer health care system can actually save South Dakotans money. I urge the task force to consider such a system as it prepares its final report. Thank you for your service to the state on this important issue.

You can recommend to the task force members a wealth of articles on universal health care, including this article from today's UK Independent: Andrew Gumbel, "Sicko? The Truth About the US Healthcare System," 2007.06.04. And don't forget: Michael Moore's Sicko premieres June 29.