DeAnne
Mike CrowlWhat do you want from health care?
September 15th 2009 04:32
I'm really wondering why we have such a problem with the health care reform issue. What do people really want? Most of the people I've heard bashing a "government run" healthcare system are already on Medicare. What do they think that is?
And the biggest problems with Medicare came when the government allowed PRIVATE insurance companies in to compete with it!
I'd seriously like to know what people want. Maybe that's what we need to do - a national survey (of EVERYONE - not just a sampling) to find out what the people want. Have specific questions - like how much do you want to pay for premiums, how much do you want to pay as a co-pay when you visit the doctor, how much do you want to pay for prescription drugs, do you want to choose your own doctors? etc. etc. etc.
The thing is, even with a government run plan, people could still choose their own doctors (while with some insurance companies, you are restricted to a network, or you have to pay a lot more.) With a government plan, we could pay lower premiums, and lower (or no) co-pays. We could pay less for prescription drugs (with a single-payer program, prices can be negotiated.) Why is there even a debate about this? It really seems quite simple to me.
This is what I want (whether it's from a governement plan, or private insurance).
1. Affordable premiums - affordable for my family means less than $500 per month. My preference would be a percentage of income - that way it's affordable for everyone, no matter what they make.
2. Low or no co-pays. I know people who have insurance, but still don't take their kids to the doctor when they're sick. They can't afford the $30, plus the day off work to take them to the doctor. $10 or $0 co-pays would help a lot! Something else that would help a lot would be guaranteed sick-days from work. A lot of people don't get paid sick-days - if they take off work to go to the doctor (or take their kids) they lose a day's pay, and maybe risk losing their job!
3. The right to choose my doctor. I don't want to have to worry about whether or not a certain doctor, hospital or clinic is "in network." Have you ever had to take your child to the ER - checked to be sure that the hospital is in network, only to find out that the ER doctor, or the radiologist, or someone who billed is not in the network. HUGE bill! With a single-payer plan, ALL doctors, clinics, hospitals, facilities are IN NETWORK, because there is only ONE network!
4. No "uninsurable conditions" or "pre-existing conditions." Everyone should be able to get insured, regardless of any current or previous illnesses.
5. Guaranteed issue. (see #4)
6. ALL health related expenses should be pre-tax, or tax deductible. Currently, if you have employer provided insurance - it is taken out of your pay before tax is figured (pre-tax). If you're self-employed, and have insurance through your business - it's deducted from your income before tax is figured. Private pay insurance, and all other health related expenses are only deductible up to a certain percentage of your income. This is not fair. Everyone should be treated (taxed) equally. All health/medical related expenses should be tax deductible - fully! There should be a place to include all medical expenses before tax is figured (as insurance is for self-employed people).
7. Low cost prescriptions. If we have a single-payer plan, the government can negotiate lower costs for prescription drugs. Paying extra for prescription coverage on an insurance policy is a joke! My family recently had to change from Blue Cross to Cinergy. Cinergy is NOT major medical coverage, it is a limited plan - which means they pay a certain amount for certain things, and that's all. Once you've used up the limits (which are small) the rest is out-of-pocket. They don't have prescription coverage, but they include a prescription discount plan. They don't PAY anything toward prescriptions, but they've negotiated lower costs. For most of our prescriptions, we now pay LESS than our co-pay was with Blue Cross. The only ones that are higher are the Tier 5 drugs - we just asked our doctors to find alternatives for those. The generics, and other lower tier drugs actually cost LESS on the discount plan than they did with prescription coverage. If you're paying for prescription coverage, drop it, and get a discount plan instead. You'll probably be better off!
I don't think any of this is too much to ask for. I would like to think anyone would be happy with a plan that offered all this. Dental and vision would be a nice added bonus (didn't have that with Blue Cross, either, so we don't miss it.) What I'm getting at, though, is all of this would be available with a national single-payer health plan. It's NOT all available with private insurance companies. Do the math! I'd rather pay more taxes and no insurance premiums, or co-pays. The government can negotiate lower prices. It's a win-win situation - for everyone but the insurance companies. Why do we want to protect them - they don't do anything to protect us. They take our money as long as we're reasonably healthy, then they drop us as soon as we really need them. They pay their CEO's and other execs huge salaries, and don't want to pay the claims they are supposed to be there to pay.
Single payer would even be better for people who are on Medicare - they wouldn't have to pay as much as they pay now, and they'd have more choices.
It just makes sense.
And the biggest problems with Medicare came when the government allowed PRIVATE insurance companies in to compete with it!
I'd seriously like to know what people want. Maybe that's what we need to do - a national survey (of EVERYONE - not just a sampling) to find out what the people want. Have specific questions - like how much do you want to pay for premiums, how much do you want to pay as a co-pay when you visit the doctor, how much do you want to pay for prescription drugs, do you want to choose your own doctors? etc. etc. etc.
The thing is, even with a government run plan, people could still choose their own doctors (while with some insurance companies, you are restricted to a network, or you have to pay a lot more.) With a government plan, we could pay lower premiums, and lower (or no) co-pays. We could pay less for prescription drugs (with a single-payer program, prices can be negotiated.) Why is there even a debate about this? It really seems quite simple to me.
This is what I want (whether it's from a governement plan, or private insurance).
1. Affordable premiums - affordable for my family means less than $500 per month. My preference would be a percentage of income - that way it's affordable for everyone, no matter what they make.
2. Low or no co-pays. I know people who have insurance, but still don't take their kids to the doctor when they're sick. They can't afford the $30, plus the day off work to take them to the doctor. $10 or $0 co-pays would help a lot! Something else that would help a lot would be guaranteed sick-days from work. A lot of people don't get paid sick-days - if they take off work to go to the doctor (or take their kids) they lose a day's pay, and maybe risk losing their job!
3. The right to choose my doctor. I don't want to have to worry about whether or not a certain doctor, hospital or clinic is "in network." Have you ever had to take your child to the ER - checked to be sure that the hospital is in network, only to find out that the ER doctor, or the radiologist, or someone who billed is not in the network. HUGE bill! With a single-payer plan, ALL doctors, clinics, hospitals, facilities are IN NETWORK, because there is only ONE network!
4. No "uninsurable conditions" or "pre-existing conditions." Everyone should be able to get insured, regardless of any current or previous illnesses.
5. Guaranteed issue. (see #4)
6. ALL health related expenses should be pre-tax, or tax deductible. Currently, if you have employer provided insurance - it is taken out of your pay before tax is figured (pre-tax). If you're self-employed, and have insurance through your business - it's deducted from your income before tax is figured. Private pay insurance, and all other health related expenses are only deductible up to a certain percentage of your income. This is not fair. Everyone should be treated (taxed) equally. All health/medical related expenses should be tax deductible - fully! There should be a place to include all medical expenses before tax is figured (as insurance is for self-employed people).
7. Low cost prescriptions. If we have a single-payer plan, the government can negotiate lower costs for prescription drugs. Paying extra for prescription coverage on an insurance policy is a joke! My family recently had to change from Blue Cross to Cinergy. Cinergy is NOT major medical coverage, it is a limited plan - which means they pay a certain amount for certain things, and that's all. Once you've used up the limits (which are small) the rest is out-of-pocket. They don't have prescription coverage, but they include a prescription discount plan. They don't PAY anything toward prescriptions, but they've negotiated lower costs. For most of our prescriptions, we now pay LESS than our co-pay was with Blue Cross. The only ones that are higher are the Tier 5 drugs - we just asked our doctors to find alternatives for those. The generics, and other lower tier drugs actually cost LESS on the discount plan than they did with prescription coverage. If you're paying for prescription coverage, drop it, and get a discount plan instead. You'll probably be better off!
I don't think any of this is too much to ask for. I would like to think anyone would be happy with a plan that offered all this. Dental and vision would be a nice added bonus (didn't have that with Blue Cross, either, so we don't miss it.) What I'm getting at, though, is all of this would be available with a national single-payer health plan. It's NOT all available with private insurance companies. Do the math! I'd rather pay more taxes and no insurance premiums, or co-pays. The government can negotiate lower prices. It's a win-win situation - for everyone but the insurance companies. Why do we want to protect them - they don't do anything to protect us. They take our money as long as we're reasonably healthy, then they drop us as soon as we really need them. They pay their CEO's and other execs huge salaries, and don't want to pay the claims they are supposed to be there to pay.
Single payer would even be better for people who are on Medicare - they wouldn't have to pay as much as they pay now, and they'd have more choices.
It just makes sense.
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