Letter: Jindal health-care credibility low
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For millions of uninsured and underinsured Americans, comprehensive, humane health-care reform is a necessity. But Gov. Bobby Jindal is the Republican spokesman against universal health-care coverage and the public health option, which he recently pronounced as “dead.”
No doubt this is self-promotional posturing in an attempt to establish gravitas as Jindal seeks a future presidency, but after examining his record on health care — using simple criteria of access to power and ability to improve health care — it is apparent he has little health-care credibility.
Louisiana ranks LAST of all 50 states in the latest America’s Health Rankings, and is also shockingly LAST in the childhood hunger rate of 24.2 percent.
In addition, Louisiana has the No. 2 (New Orleans) and No. 3 (Baton Rouge) highest HIV/AIDS city case rates in the USA.
But despite Louisiana’s HIV/AIDS epidemic spinning out of control, since Jindal assumed office 22 months ago there has not been one word from him of acknowledgement, leadership or intelligent planning about this community-devastating development involving the state’s two major cities.
A Google search of “Jindal” and “HIV” and/or “AIDS” reveals not one mention of the epidemic, which shows an incredible ignorance and/or disregard of the dire Louisiana public health situation.
It was inexcusable when President Ronald Reagan avoided mention and responsibility of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, but this is 22 years later, and Jindal is the Republican-anointed “health-care wizard”!
Against all objective global evidence in the most developed countries, Jindal argues against any form of government-led health care — or what many people call “health care of the people, by the people and for the people.”
Having worked in two other countries’ health systems with either a national health service (England) or a national health insurance scheme (Switzerland) that covers 100 percent of their inhabitants, I can testify that Swiss and English patients and health-care workers are far happier with their health-care systems because they effectively own them (the English own them outright, while the Swiss insurance companies are kept on cost containment).
Did Mr. Jindal not learn of England’s phenomenal NHS success while studying in England?
We health-care workers who treat poor, uninsured and underinsured people believe that health care is a human right, regardless of ability to pay — human life must be more sacred than property or money. If modern society lacks this core principle, it is doomed to implosion and failure by destroying its own citizens.
Mr. Jindal’s recent articles and speeches are full of recycled propaganda designed to further extend the current well-documented USA health-care crisis wherein millions of people are forced into bankruptcy while insurance, pharmaceutical and health-care executives continue to game the system and become fabulously wealthy.
That’s not sacred — it’s profane.
Richard Witzig, physician, associate professor
Tulane Medical School, NOLA
Harahan
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