Can America afford universal health care?
Ihave been reading with great interest about the latest plans in Washington to create universal health care coverage.

While I join most in saying that all Americans should have access to quality, affordable health coverage, I remind President Obama and Congress that taxpayers are not an open checkbook and our country is already buried in debt.

The plan that is being crafted in Washington is expected to cost $1.6 trillion over the next 10 years. That is on top of the $787 billion bill known as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

The outstanding public debt of our nation currently stands at more than $11 trillion, equal to $37,200 for every American. Our debt has increased an average of $3.8 billion a day since September 2007, and there is no relief in site.

So the issue here is really not if you support universal health coverage or not. The issue is about how much Americans are willing to drive themselves, their children and their grandchildren into debt.

The issue is about the general rule of inflation, in which money is devalued when its issuer is broke. And the issue is about how much influence America is prepared to sacrifice around the globe, as a large percentage of U.S. treasury bills are owned by other nations, including communist China.

And, so, as people weigh the benefits of public insurance versus private insurance, I urge them to look at the bigger issue: Can the America we know be sustained under yet another $1.6 trillion of debt?
Desmond X. Slattery
Monmouth-Ocean Chapter
President
New Jersey Association of
Health Underwriters
Wall