Finding the value in health care
From The Newnan Times-Herald
Fortunately, it didn’t take the Georgia Supreme Court as long as it took the General Assembly in deciding to cut the government red tape that was blocking the innovative ridesharing business.
The legislature dithered over how to open the door to companies like Lyft and Uber. There were countless hearings, dozens of lobbyists on both sides of the issue, and untold hand-wringing moments the two years before the lawmakers passed a bill in 2015. Wisely, Gov. Nathan Deal signed it into law.
The gist of it was to prohibit cities and counties from enacting new ordinances that would keep out ride-sharing companies. For Atlanta, that meant that the taxicabs that have city-issued medallions would no longer be protected from competition. While that city had not issued all of the 1,600 medallions it was limited to, it still had said no one could operate a “vehicle for hire” without one.
Atlanta council members were trying to be pro-business 20 years ago when they enacted their medallion rules. As a convention city, it is bad for business when tourists seek a taxi and find it dirty, unsafe and operated by a driver intent on fleecing customers. Requiring medallions empowered the city to inspect cabs and to withdraw the medallions of those that were substandard.
What changed is technology. Companies like Lyft and Uber now have the means to impose their own customer-service standards and better ways of getting substandard drivers and vehicles off the roads. That’s one reason customers are flocking to them.
A group of Atlanta taxi drivers sued to stop the law, arguing that it took away some of their livelihoods by eliminating their oligopoly. Justice Carol Hunstein in the court’s decision quoted a 130-yearold ruling from her predecessors that said essentially, “lump it.”
No one should be guaranteed a safeguard from the competition that new technology can bring. Successful companies react by boosting their own customer service. Fortunately, all three branches of Georgia’s government have now affirmed that and held open the door for new innovation to benefit consumers.
IOn this past Tuesday, the Rome News-Tribune printed a guest editorial from the Baltimore Sun that posed the question “How Does the US Health Care System Measure Up?” According to the editorial, the answer to that question is, “Not very well!” The editorial states that our country ranks 34th in the international “Healthcare Access and Quality Index,” and that we as a nation, spend the most per person, $9,000 per year, of all the countries in the world.
I urge anyone reading this commentary to do what I recently did and spend some time on the Internet researching what profits our health insurance companies make, the salaries of their CEOs and those of the pharmaceutical companies. Of course, these institutions provide hefty contributions to our federal elections, and thus our leaders will not face the tough solutions to fixing our broken system.
I wholly support the value added components of our physicians, nurses, health researchers and technicians; and I wholly support them having a high quality of living. Because they are the difference between a high quality of life and sometimes death, they deserve it. But maybe we need to take a hard look at the “middlemen” in the health care industry, namely the insurance companies and CEOs of pharmaceutical industries. Do these businesses really provide value to the health care industry and all of us living a healthy life?
IWilliam Steiner Rome had a horrifying experience happen today at the traffic light at Redmond Road and Redmond Circle while turning toward Wal-Mart. The two left lanes are designated as left turn lanes, but the only indicators Mike Lester, Washington Post Writers Group are faded arrows on the road and the arrows on the light, though most people only pay attention to the traffic light immediately directing them. While I was in the right turn lane, a semi-truck was in the left lane. When the light changed, I made my left turn, as did the semi. To my horror, the semi took to the right lane immediately after turning, causing me to slam on my brakes or be sandwiched between the truck and the curb. This has happened to me in the past, not only with trucks but also with autos, and I’m sure to many others.
I do believe a check of traffic accident records would indicate numerous accidents having occurred at this traffic signal due to this situation. I believe a solution to this deadly situation would be the installation of overhead left turn indicators hung beside the signal lights and restricting semitrucks to the right turn lane due to their need for a wider turning radius. Most of them will need the right lane when they turn right on Shorter Avenue. H. James Clay Armuchee