Health Insurance as it should be, not as the Democrats propose

One of the quickest fixes is to return health insurance to emergencies and catastrophic care only. The cost explosion began when legislatures began demanding that insurance cover everything.

People actually believed the lie that they could get all the health care they wanted for a low premium and $10 co-pay. Doctors began ordering expensive tests for no reason other than for the income generated. We have become a prescription-drug-addicted society because doctors have told people that they need these drugs, and people believe this because they don't want to die. These drugs have not made us healthier, they've turned us into drug addicts.

As doctors began ordering more tests and more drugs and more visits, insurance companies had to keep raising premiums and reducing reimbursement, which caused doctors to order more tests and more drugs and more visits, which caused insurance companies to raise premiums and reduce reimbursement, which caused . . .

Raised premiums caused people to drop out, which caused insurance companies to raise premiums, which caused people to drop out, which caused . . .

Medicare made a good start when it declared that certain things were "never events". A health care provider who screws up should bear the price, not the insurance company.

We the People should have a choice. Those who want to go to the doctor every time their nose runs, should have to pay for it. People like me who just want emergency and catastrophic care, paying for other stuff as we go, should be allowed to have that.

You are so right. People have to have the right of free choice in medicical situations. Your last paragraph is exactly the solution that should come out of Congress. Alas, it probably is the one that will not.

HC will degrade because our phony government will fix the prices of visits and procedures so that non participants in the government medical system will be forced to quit. The government can also fix prices of drugs and limit them to certain groups thus quashing the profits of drug companies.

Bright people who want to be doctors will choose other professions and we will get hoards of third world doctors from mills to come over her, vote Demoncrap upon arrival and get juicy [by third world standards] government jobs.

People who are not green weenies, who smoke or eat red meat will be pushed off into programs that are dead end. Medical procedures will be denied. Second hand smoke from marijuana will be fine and legally harmless but smoke from tobacco will be an act of terrorism and any peripheral medical maladies will be denied on that basis. Trans gender operations and such will be offered at no charge along with quickie abortions past 9 months if necessary.

But, we can be assured that the lawyers will be in there as usual given the amount of money they use to bribe liberals and they will sue those apart from the government. They paid for this with their political contributions.

We may have to leave the country for some procedures or get into the medical black market business.

And we gave the low class the vote. We all deserve the 'change' we are going to get.

rycK

Always and forever. When Govt gets involved in an industry, it tanks. Costs go up, quality goes down, because they've interfered with market forces.

HC costs are so high now because of insurance companies stepping into the mix. You can only charge what people will be willing and able to pay for any service, and the existence of Health Care Insurance means that somebody will pay much more than the typical consumer alone could pay. That means that HC organizations charge more for their services to ensure that they are paid as much as possible. But the insurance companies are still private entities, and have at least some measure of cost control in mind.

With the government there will be no sense of cost control, and prices will skyrocket while quality plummets.

And who gets screwed in the process? http://ow.ly/diUG

Or is that what corporate America wants you to believe. The "problems" of America health care are these, nearly 1/4 of all Americans either have no health insurance or are under insured. Health expenses is a major cause of personal bankruptcy in America. And those who argue against universal health care say that giving health care to all would result in long lines and slower access to health care. So our system is good as long as nearly 1/4 of Americans are not properly cared for. That is the best in the world?

It would be interesting to see the proof behind the statement that "the government involvement in healthcare is nearly invisible." Medicare is nearly broke we are told over and over. However, most insurance companies do not cover medical equipment required by the chronically ill until Medicare covers it. Medicare, it seems, is the litmus test for items such as insulin pumps and censors. If Medicare doesn't cover the item private insurance will not either. Medicare is powerful- like the government.

Medicare is now going into hospitals and deciding not to cover certain conditions that occur in hospitals such as bed sores etc. Granted, this seems to be a great idea in motivating healthcare workers to step-up care. However, every germ cannot be contained and every situation cannot be perfect and the human body breaks down. So, doctors and nurses and hospitals will not be paid for certain conditions. Are these workers and institutions supposed to work for free?

I wrote a piece on the very same subject.