High cost of health care

What is a small business owner in Missouri to do when an employee requires a prescription medication that costs more than their annual salary? Too many employees like that means you'll be locking your doors soon.

Richard Master, CEO of a family-owned factory, faced such a dilemma when his company's health-care costs were rising by the equivalent of $4 per hour each year. This meant there wasn't much room for increasing wages.

Master decided to do something about this. He hired a filmmaker to document the problems faced by small business owners. The film "Big Pharma: Market Failure" reveals the pharmaceutical company's profiteering as a threat to American businesses and suggests a solution.

Cape Girardeau area residents can see this film with a discussion to follow, free of charge, at 7 p.m. Monday in Johnson Hall (Room 200) on the SEMO campus. As one of the physicians featured in the film, I will be present to lead the discussion, explain more of the back story and focus on potential solutions.

Health-care costs now run to $3.2 trillion per year and constitute 17.8 percent of GDP. These figures would seem to call for a change, but special interests such as pharmaceutical companies are happy with the status quo in that they are benefitting mightily.

If we are going to decrease the profiteering in health care, we all need to unite for the common good. These are times when we need government to work for us. Join the discussion.

ED WEISBART, M.D., Olivette, Missouri