Donna Schmitt, Columbia Heights City Council

There has been much said about the high cost of healthcare.  People seem to neglect to talk about one portion of healthcare that has remained pretty consistent over the years, lasik surgery.  I don’t know of any health plans that cover lasik surgery yet the price of lasik surgery has really not fluctuated much over the years.  If you add in the cost of living increase, you might even be able to say that the price has actually lowered.

How could this have happened?  This could only have happened because people are willing to pay for this out of their own pocket and they are willing to shop around for the best price. This is the common work of supply and demand.  When there were few doctors that did this optional surgery, the price was higher but it decreased over the year as more doctors started offering this and they started competing for patients.  The price can fluctuate with many different factors but their are predictions that because of the economy the prices could lower this next year because doctors are looking for patients.

When lasik was originally talked about I had several friends who arranged to have their lasik surgery in Cananda beacuase it was cheaper.  Then the price started lowering here in the states and more people looked at getting their surgery done locally.

Not every lasik business made it in those early days.  My brother and his wife ended up getting their lasik done here in the Twin Cities and when they went for a follow-up check-up, they arrived for their appointment and found the the business was closed.

Lasik is a business that is not covered by government or private healthplans yet it continues to be a profitable business.  This means that doctors have to advertise and sell their services.  Many patients opt to pay for this out of their own pocket because the cost of surgery, compared to the cost of buying glasses or contact lenses could be cost effective.  The comfort of not having to wear glasses or being in a situation where you lose a contact lens and you are unable to see clearly would also make the choice of lasik a desirable service.

Something to think about:  If like lasik surgery, government had stayed out of healthcare, how much less would the cost of our healthcare be today?

Even though I usually stick with local government issues, I am going to break away from that to make a comment on government run healthcare.

Those who currently have healthcare already pay higher premiums to cover the expenses of those who don’t have insurance.  This is a known fact.  Now, the proposal that just passed out of the Senate Finance Committee is adding insult to injury.  They are now talking about taxing cadillac plans, the plans offered by unions and big business, to pay for the government option.  Why isn’t there more concern about this?  Aren’t unions the ones that typically vote in the Democrats?  Why are they offending the groups that vote for them?  Today, unions took out ads against this bill.  Has the love affair between the whitehouse and unions been lost?

As for big businesses having to be taxed for covering their employees with a generous healthplan, what are these senators thinking?  Many of these large companies are able to pay lower wages because they offer great health coverage to their employees.  If those employers will now be penalized they will pass that cost onto their employees.  This will result in a big reduction in what employees are able to take home.  This is less money for spending and results in more closures, less competition, and penalizing the people who already have health insurance.

Right now, healthcare as we know it is not perfect but we need to reevaluate what is being discussed and step back and take more time to find what could be a better solution to this problem.

To what extent should the city work with community, church and school groups?