Political Corruption
Corrupt Congress isn't fighting for interest of average citizen
By Mark Guthrie - Letter to the Editor: NewarkAdvocate.com
Feb 23, 2006, 19:14

At a time when the average pay for American workers is declining for most (vs. the cost of living), Congress continues to belly up to the pay master with little accountability to the American people.

Last year was a tragic one for U.S. workers and employers who provide health care coverage. A recent study by The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation shows that last year the annual premium for family health coverage reached $10,880. According to the study, this number exceeded the gross earnings of a full-time minimum-wage employee of $10,712. The Kaiser study also showed that the increase in the cost of health care was 9.2 percent. The average U.S. worker last year received a cost-of-living increase of 3 percent or less, while his health care cost escalated by over 9 percent. The math just doesn't work.

Newark city employees and the city got socked with enormous health care cost increases because of catastrophic losses to the city's new health insurance pool. With instability like that, one might view the pool more as a "risk pool" than an insurance pool. The increase absorbed by employees and the city general fund exceeded the national average by well more than three times.

We are paying Congress to make sound decisions on issues such as health care cost containment. Congress is too close to the industries that profit from escalating health related costs. The most ingenious idea that Washington can come up with is medical savings accounts. What good are these accounts to the uninsured, underinsured, unemployed and underemployed?

Today, there are 5 million more Americans uninsured than there were in 2000. Forty-six million uninsured and all we have to offer are medical savings accounts? When it comes to medical savings accounts, I agree with the recent New York Times editorial that said: "Many low and moderate income people will most likely pass up care that they need until they become desperately sick and then encounter much higher cost down the line." The editorial went on to say: "Unsurprisingly, the accounts favor the healthy and wealthy at the expense of the poor and chronically sick."

Visit www.opensecrets.org and fill in the blanks with your favorite Congressman's name and you'll see that the vast majority in Congress get their contributions from Political Action Committees that are "profit-driven" and could not care less how many Americans are uninsured.

House Majority Leader John Boehner says that he is opposed to ending privately paid trips by members of Congress. Based on its recent actions, we know that Congress will continue to be paid well and will continue to enjoy its free trips and lavish meals. While average Americans starve for decent health care and wages, we can be assured that U.S. lawmakers are enjoying their jobs and their excellent health care benefits.

Marc Guthrie, president of Newark City Council, is a former member of the Ohio House of Representatives.

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