On Wednesday Night, August 16^th , we will be taking a look at the future of healthcare in our nation. Prior to World War II, most people paid for their own healthcare. If you or your family were sick, you would go or take them to the Doctor or hospital and paid your expenses from your own pocket. After WWII, some employers began offering their employees healthcare insurance as a fringe benefit. In 1965, the US government started Medicaid to provide insurance for the poor. In 1966, the government started Medicare for the elderly. Currently, we have a strange mixture of healthcare that includes private pay, private insurance, VA, Medicare, Medicaid, and the government healthcare exchange (also known as “Obamacare”). The Republicans promised to “repeal and replace Obamacare” if they were elected into power. The Republicans won big in the November elections – they won the Presidency and majorities in the House and the Senate – but so far they have made no progress on fixing our healthcare problems.

Meanwhile, our leaders have been under pressure for years to lead us into a “single payer”, “socialized”, government run healthcare system (like many other “civilized” nations already have) where everyone in the nation is insured by the government (taxpayers).

While this debate is heating up – we have the sad story of little Charlie Gard. Charlie was born on August 4,2016 at the Great Ormond Street Hospital in London into one of those “civilized” nations that has government run healthcare – the United Kingdom. He seemed to be doing fine for the first 8 weeks and then he began to weaken. Doctors discovered he had a rare disease called Mitochondria Depletion Syndrome. The Doctors said there was no sure treatment or cure so they decided to let him die. Charlie’s parents heard that there was a Doctor in the United States that had experienced some success in treating the disease – so they managed to raise $1.7 million. They asked the hospital for permission to go to the US – for as Charlie’s mother said ” we have only life to gain and nothing to lose.” But the hospital said “no.”  President Trump invited Charlie’s family to come. Pope Francis pled with British officials to let Charlie go. But the hospital, the government, and the courts said “no.”  Charlie Gard died on July 28, 2017.

Healthcare is a complicated issue. Modern medical procedures are miraculous when compared to medical treatment just 100 years ago. But these medical miracles are also very expensive. What is the future of American healthcare?

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