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Thousands of people across South Dakota struggle every day with rising health care costs. Nine percent of South Dakotans are uninsured and many are just one accident or illness away from bankruptcy.

“Fixing the health care crisis will not be easy,” said Sarah Jennings, State Director for AARP South Dakota. “At a time when so much is at stake, government, businesses and individuals need to take a hard look at the current health care environment and begin exploring what the future of heath care should look like in South Dakota to ensure all South Dakotans can get the care they need when they need it.”

To hear a wide variety of perspectives on the current health care crisis, AARP hosted an opinion leader forum June 5 to discuss the options and trade-offs that might be necessary to solve the challenge of quality affordable health care.
 
A panel of representatives with diverse perspectives from state government, business, the medical field, and consumers, and labor joined together for discussion on the future of health care, moderated by KSOO radio host and former Sioux Falls Mayor, Rick Knobe.

Members of the panel include: Deb Bowman, Department Secretary, South Dakota Department of Social Services; Barb Smith, South Dakota State Medical Association; David Owen, President, South Dakota Chamber of Commerce and Industry; Jennifer Stalley, Director of Government Relations, American Cancer Society and Mark Anderson, President, South Dakota Federation of Labor.

Don Dahlin, a retired Political Science Professor from Vermillion attended to learn more, and get a clearer picture of what the future of health care America might look like. “It’s a complex subject,” said Dahlin. “Everybody is in agreement we’re not going to have a comprehensive solution, but I think everybody agrees this is a problem and it needs to be worked on and addressed sooner rather than later.”

Panelist Deb Bowman, Department Secretary for the South Dakota Department of Social Services addressed some of the trade-offs necessary to reach a solution. “Do we have an employer based approached to health care, do we change to a different base, do we have all the technologies, do we get three CAT scans at any given time or do we get only one?  Those are the kinds of discussions as Americans we have to have and they’re not easy ones when it involves your loved one.”

“I think one of the things we’re getting close to agreeing on is that everybody ought to be able to get to a doctor when they don’t feel good,” said David Owen, President of the South Dakota Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Owen cautioned that as solutions surface, it will be important to carefully analyze how those solutions might be achieved. “Understand that when government is in charge of all of it, you’re going to be paying for it through taxes,” Owen said.

Bowman said the forum offered an opportunity to have an open dialogue that’s necessary to bring about change. “As long as we keep talking, I feel confident we’ll find solutions.”

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