I recently viewed a quality video about Obama's health care plan, and how he's planning on paying for it. The man toward the end of the video is Ed Schultz. He's not a conservative. Just wanted to clear that up. Here's a link, and the video is embedded below.
The biggest concern I have is not about taxation, it's about how this Government health care plan will change America. That's right, I said change. If you like going to the MVD/DMV...if you can't wait to go wait in that awfully long line for the chance to be sneered at by some middle-aged lady with a smoker's cough and some very suspicious hair-loss...you really are probably looking forward to having the Government take your health care over.
Seriously though, President Obama keeps touting that if you like your coverage as it is, then you'll be able to keep it. How long does he intend for this to be possible?
I don't have the access to any specifics, but let's do a gut check. I don't know anyone who's not successfully self-employed who doesn't use the health care coverage provided to them by their employers. This is a very good deal for most workers that qualify for this coverage. Companies of all shapes and sizes spend a large portion of their resources to negotiating, and then facilitating the Health plan that is both cost beneficial to their bottom lines, as well as appealing to as many current and prospective employees as possible.
Enter Government Health coverage. It will seem like a great deal. Many companies will latch on to the fact that they'll save $$ by just allowing their employees to switch to Obamacare. Everything might seem rosy - and then the health insurance companies, divested of their main source of funding, will fold. We'll have no options, the Government's health coverage will be the only coverage available. That's when it will start to suck. We'll get taxed more and more, which will be followed by the inevitable fact that in order to remain solvent, the Health care peeps will have to cut costs, which will lead to Health Care Rationing - like I've mentioned in a previous post.
People might start to pay for their own care in what's left of the Private Sector - but what happened in Canada might happen here too - they passed a law banning such activities. We'll have no choice but to stagnate and slide deeper into European Socialism.
If you read more and more about it, it gets worse. Here's a link to an article about how Kennedy's bill works, and how it favors the Political Elite. That's exactly what we need...right?
I must mention that the current Health Care system in the USA is not perfect, but does what I've written above sound in any way better to anyone? I hope not.
Enjoy the video. If you'd like, here's a website where you can lend your voice to the cause of freeing up our health care.
I will state for the record that I have great health benefits through my job that I hate. Despite having the peace of mind of knowing that my family is protected, I recognize the need to change the system. Let's not forget that Mccain also saw the need for this change and openly stated that health benefits would taxed if he were elected.
ReplyDeleteI will agree that it will take a lot of money to create this change, but what are our other options? The system is already full of leaks and insurance scratching the backs of the hospitals (which are businesses). I do not see a need to continue on as if everything was okay.
Perhaps the most telling experience for me happened a few weeks ago when my wife broke her foot. We waited, and waited in an empty ER. When she was admitted we waited again in a patient room shared with two other patients and their visitors. After six hours of... medical care, she was released. Over the weekend she had a bad reaction to the pain medication that she had been prescribed. When calling the doctor's office to report this and see what other options were available, they took her number and told her they would call back. To this day they have not called back! I am sure that they will have no problem contacting us if the insurance didn't pay, but our plan will pay all of the overcharges at full rate, so I won't be expecting a call from them. We called our family doctor and he was able to get a new prescription called into the pharmacy.
While this is a mild story, it reinforces my belief that the system is flawed and needs to be shaken awake. Offering a Public Option system will not socialize medicine, but give more power to the patients to be in control of their treatment. We should not be at the mercy of the doctors, after all, they work for us.
Anyway, just some food for thought. If we don't stand up for weak among us, who will?
Archie,
ReplyDeleteThank you for expressing your opinion on the subject of health care reform. I appreciate your views and feel I should point out some areas that can help illuminate areas where your experience actually comes in favor of strengthening the free market within healthcare vs. increasing the governments role in a psuedo-free market (free for some but payed for by me).
You are right that change is needed, and President Obama pointed out the type of change that is needed in a recent address when he said that our current healthcare system is a result of an accident. The accident was the government salary controls initiated during WWII that forced employers to increase other benefits to help attract new employees. One of these benefits was company sponsored health insurance. Post WWII the tax laws were changed so companies could pay for health insurance with pre-tax dollars, whereas you and I have to use post tax dollars (the same level of care is more expensive for the individual but not for the company).
The change that McCain wanted to enact was cleaning up the accident that Obama himself acknowledges. That change would allow you to purchase the same level of coverage as your employer provides, allowing you to leave that job you hate without fearing losing your health benefits since they would not be tied to the job (that phenomenon is called job-lock).
If someone really wants real change, he or she should push for control over his or her own health care and that of his or her family. It is true that hospitals are run as businesses, even those that non-profit. If they weren't run as a business they would go under, then whole communities would be left without a place to go.
Additionally, a household is in essence a business, with its own niche in the marketplace. You and your wife purchase the things your business needs to be productive, finding the best deals for your household, not because you want to take advantage of others, but because there is a finite amount of resources within your household, and if too much is spent in one area of the family budget, it limits what can be used in other areas. So, if hospitals and insurance companies are evil businesses as I feel is the inference, then families in their own way are of the same general hue.
Continued...
ReplyDeleteGoing back to the idea of you and your family owning your own health care, let's look at three different types of patients and the general provider response that I have seen (as a Family Nurse Practitioner) to each patient. Patient A pays all medical expenses out of pocket or has a high deductible plan that covers all major medical bills. Patient B has traditional medical insurance with a standard co-pay for medical visits and prescriptions. Patient C pays nothing towards his/her own health benefits in the form of premiums or co-pays. Out of the patients, P A uses the least amount of healthcare resources, and is truly the most efficient user of healthcare. P B is less efficient mainly because he or she most likely doesn't see the total cost of health care (they are never payed the gross amount of what the employer pays for health coverage and do not pay that cost out of their own bank accounts, so this patient does not fully comprehend what is paid). P B is stuck in the third payer system. P C is not only stuck in the third payer system, but doesn't pay anything for his or her own healthcare. P C is the least efficient user of healthcare (moral hazard) because he or she has no dissincentive to use healthcare resources which we must always remember, are finite.
The provider response to each patient is unique...the provider generally finds the private pay patient (P A) the most demanding because he or she takes full responsibility for his/her health, and wants the biggest bang for the buck. (Remember, this patient is running his/her own business-the family marketplace-and has finite resources). Providers respond differently to P B and P C as well. The provider jumps through the hoops put in place by the insurance carriers, or the govt plans, which is not always positive for the patient. In truth, it leads to a bare minimum standard of care, which is different from the high standard of care provided to P A who is most demanding.
So, as you fall in P B territory, as does your wife, it is reasonable to expect the hospital you went to to do the minimum to get by the standard put in place by the third party. That standard of care was insulting to you, but according to the third party your wife's foot was not going to fall off, and she wasn't about to the way of Michael Jackson, so a little wait was acceptable. If hospitals and providers had as patients a majority of P A's, those who wanted your health care dollars would get your wife in and out with the right meds, since they would be in competition with others in the area. If you didn't want to spend for that service, you could go to the 3 hour wait provider.
A public plan would be the ultimate third payer system with bells and whistles written into the plan by politicians who know nothing about healthcare other than the occasional case of ED or alcoholism (thanks Ted). The problem with this third payer system is that the money used to finance the plan doesn't originate from those insured but from most Americans (not just those making more than $250,000 a year-what jerks). This would cause a vacuum effect in the healthcare market drawing patients to this plan, crippling other plans, leading to a single payer system within the next few decades. To say otherwise is either an innocent ignorance of the truth, or a deceptive statement by one who thinks that whatever means needed is justified by the ends (i.e. let's take the 116 pages of a certain manuscript and change it to discredit the final production-if you don't know what I'm talking about sorry).
So, in closing, if you want real change, you will call for personal accountability and personal responsiblilty over health care.
It's been a while since I have read much on here. I've had a lot of activity on Facebook though with some nice discussions and debates. Right now I am involved in several regarding this very issue. I merely wanted to share a presentation from the Heritage Foundation in regards to healthcare. Yes the system needs an overhaul, but government is not the answer.
ReplyDeleteIt's just short of an hour long, but very informative.
http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid13746676001?bclid=0&bctid=16385948001