While most Americans enjoy the relationships they have with their health care providers, the health care system in this country does not work, a physician said.

Dr. Harry Zink, a Wooster ophthalmologist and past president of the American Academy of Ophthalmology, was one of three speakers at a public forum titled "Insuring a Decent Future for our Health Care." The event, organized by the Ecumenical Communities for a Compassionate Ohio, was held at First Presbyterian Church and featured Cathy Levine, director of Universal Health Care Action Network-Ohio, and Jerry Gordon, executive secretary for Single-Payer Action Network-Ohio.

As the baby boomer generation continues to age, it will place a tremendous strain on health care resources, Zink said. There also has been an expansion of disease that is not just related to age, but to lifestyle choices, such as obesity, he added.

Health care spending amounts to about 16 percent of the gross domestic product, and "pretty soon all we will be doing is paying for physician care and prescription drugs," Zink said.

With an aging population, there is the potential of a revolt by everyone younger than 65, Zink said. For those 65 years or older, there is a good health care system in place, he said, referring to Medicare. However, it is primarily those younger who will pay for it.

Zink offered suggestions on how to arrive at a better health care system. First define what type of system is wanted then work backward "to make the system give us that."

"Everybody tries to tweak the system to get it to turn their way," he said. "The only way to make true progress is if we all agree on certain tenets."

Everyone will need to make sacrifices, the insurance companies, health care providers, patients and the government. Zink said it needs to be the coalition of the willing, and everyone needs to willing to give something up.

While people say they want an economical, low-cost health care, they don't want it for themselves, he added. If the system is to be reformed, there needs to be enough pain for everybody, but not too much for any single person, Zink said.

Zink's perfect system would be efficient, effective, economically sustainable and for everybody.

Levine had been working to promote a universal care at the national level. But when efforts led by Hillary Rodham Clinton proved to be unsuccessful, Levine said she believed any reform would come at the state level.

Around 1.3 million Ohioans are uninsured, and of that number more than 150,000 are children, Levine said. The uninsured have a 25 percent greater mortality rate than the insured, they typically delay care until they are very sick, use emergency rooms instead of primary care physicians and earn 10 percent to 30 percent less because of poor health, Levine said.

Four out of five uninsured people live in working families. Most people insured in Ohio (63 percent) receive coverage through their jobs, but the number is declining, Levine said.

Levine proposes a rational health care system that provides everyone basic, comprehensive care that improves health in a way that's affordable to individuals and society. The most obvious example would be a single-payer system, she added.

While a majority of Americans believe there should be guaranteed access to affordable health care that meets their needs from a choice of private or public insurance plans and a choice of provider, many don't like it when it is referred to as universal coverage, a system like Canada, Medicare for all or government health care, Levine said.

She encouraged the audience to contact legislators and tell them they want to see reform.

While Gordon said he appreciated Levine's efforts, he drew a sharp distinction between his SPAN-Ohio and UHCAN. SPAN-Ohio considers insurance companies to be part of the problem. SPAN-Ohio is working toward one fund, administered by a nonprofit government agency accountable to the public, to make payment for all medical services.

"Insurance companies want the healthy, the wealthy and the young. Do you want these people to be your partners?" Gordon asked.

The Rev. Jim Collier of First Presbyterian Church said after the forum he believed the speakers were on target when identifying the problems.

"Personally, a single-payer system seems to make sense," Collier said. "Somehow we have to break the lock paid lobbyists have on politicians."

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