Get it right: Expand Medicaid? OK. How about fixing it first.

Nobody wants a family to go without health care. There should be an option for people who have pre-existing conditions or those who are facing catastrophic illnesses.

And it also goes without saying that if someone does not have a job that provides health care, or who cannot afford it, there should be a provision for that, too.

The problem with both health care reform federally and calls for the expansion of Medicaid at the state level is that there is more than just a problem of providing the means to secure the care.

It is that the programs we have -- and which we are now being chastised about not expanding -- are quite simply, dysfunctional.

Take a look around -- claims aren't being paid, you can't sign up, the costs are astronomical and government cannot seem to provide a reimbursement rate that does not make doctors head for the hills -- if they get paid at all.

So while in theory these programs might seem like a good deal, the truth is they aren't making anything any better -- and that is because nobody looked from Point A to Point C to see what the concerns might be.

So while we might like to expand Medicaid, and to believe that the government will cover the costs, we are wise to wait a bit.

Piling good money after bad helps no one.

Fix it first, then expand the rolls. That's how you get a program that works that doesn't bankrupt the rest of us.

Published in Editorials on December 11, 2013 10:37 AM