Topic: Health Care
Healthcare Crisis My take on a real crisis in America.by Joe W.
(libertarian)
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
I wish to address a crisis that has been around for a while and seriously needs to be addressed: America's Healthcare Crisis.
Granted, Obama says he'll fix the problem, but his proposals aren't going to change anything. His National Health Insurance Exchange and his employer contribution reform will only make the Insurance industry more complicated and full of red-tape. In effect, he will only create a more complicated version of our current healthcare system.
Here's my take on the whole thing:
2002 and 2006 Minnesota Democratic gubernatorial candidate Becky Lourey had the right idea when she proposed a program called Business Care; that program would allow small businesses to buy insurance plans through the state's Medicaid program. Such a program would make it far more affordable for smaller businesses to buy healthcare and would directly compete with private insurance companies.
Also, Mitt Romney had the right idea when it became Massachusetts state law that all residents had to buy health insurance. In every state, every car owner is required to own some form of auto insurance or face a penalty; the same logic should apply to every resident to own health insurance or face a penalty. It's common sense and would prevent socialized medicine.
So, my take on this is simple. We need to allow people and individuals the option of buying health insurance through Medicare and individual states should require their residents to own health insurance. It needs to be done or face Canadian or British style healthcare. Do It Now!!!
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Posted By: Jahfre Fire Eater
Date: 2008-12-23 11:26:07
Hi Joe,
I'm not sure what crisis you are referring to. I had serious health problems over the past 3 months and I had no problem getting care. I never waited in line for anything and didn't even see a line anywhere. The only problem I personally experienced was that my Dr. had not ordered Tums for me so when I asked for two Tums the nurses had to call the Dr. to get his OK. For a system built on a cover-your-ass and idiot-worthy bureaucracy, the care I received was absolutely fantastic. No sign of a crisis.
At one point I said I was lucky I had insurance. The nurse said I'd have gotten the same care anyway and the tax payers would foot the bill. So, what is the health care crisis that everyone talks about?
The only health care crisis I can see is over regulation that drives costs through the roof. We need to abolish the AMA and change licensing requirements into grading so consumers have a choice between a super expensive super Dr. and a cheap not-so-good Dr....depending on their own personal priorities and finances.
The problem I have with a plan that requires individuals to purchase insurance is twofold:
1. It is just a tax masquerading as a virtue.
2. It implies insurance companies would be required to sell insurance to anyone and everyone.
The first item is an old standard for social engineers. Next they would require gym memberships and regular physicals. This is huge step towards turning free citizens into government cattle.
The second item nullifies the business model that underlies the insurance industry. Insurance is a model that spreads risk in ways that minimize the liability of each individual member. Requiring insurance companies to disregard their risk management stock-in-trade eliminates insurance as we know it. This will do the same thing to the insurance industry that easy credit did to the banking industry.
The insurance industry will transition from a capital return model to a transaction-fee based model. Instead of insurance companies constraining the availability of procedures they will start encouraging frivilous procedures so they can collect more transaction fees. The doctors and hospitals will love it. Everyone wins except those who will pay the bills (tax payers) when the scheme collapses just like the credit industry did.
The proposals you favor will transform health care into an entirely new industry. One that milks sick people's tolerance for unnecessary procedures and treats the citizens as meat for the State.
As someone who values free enterprise, limited government and individual liberty I could never embrace such fascist and oppressive actions by government.
Eliminating the AMA and licensing seems to be the most sensical free market approach. Licensing creates a sate monopoly on "permission" to be a physician and an oligopoly on the service providers limiting real competition. The current AMA+licensing+insurance and health care industry operates now like a state sponsored mafia or a drug cartel.
Here is what the current over-regulation does: Limits the amount of medical schools, limits the amount of graduating physicians, limits the competition of the practicing physicians by using the AMA, limits free choices.
Forced insurance will also limit my choice on whether to buy insurance or not. At one time I was bewteen jobs and had my family of 5 with no insurance for over 1 year. I took the risk and nothing happened. During that 1 year, my kid got sick and I was able to negotiate prices with my pediatrician by paying cash upfront. I told them I had no insurance and needed the pricing before the consultation. I cut the price in half and they were very happy to take the payment. Therefore the phycician's prices thorugh the insurance are overpriced and not market based.
When I negotiated prices with the pediatrician, I got a deep discount plus I did not have to go thorugh procedures that were not necessary. Pediatrician told me to buy a breathing machine for the kid. I told them that it did not make sense to buy the machine for only one week of use. She said: "oh don't worry insurance pays". I had to remind her: "I have none at the moment, Can I rent one from your office?" She said: "Let me see what I can do." Four minutes later she said: "You can borrow our breathing machine. Take it home and bring it with you on your next visit."
When the accountability is on the user and not on the insurance, nagotiations will happen and physicians will negotiate with you and you may even borrow devices for FREE that would have otherwise been charged unneccessarily to the insurance company. Physicians are also human beings that will be able to work out deals with you if you ask.
Today I have insurace for my family, but I pay with a pre-tax HSA a low premium in exchange of very high deductibles. The first $6k in medical expenses I have to pay 100%, so I am forced to negotiate with these phycicias. When they tell me insurance pays, I tell them that the first several thousans are on me not on my insurace. Then all of a sudden as if there is an act of magic, they are willing to negotiate because now I can chose another physician. That way, I still have accoutability on my part as well as some negotiation. Anything above $6k is supposed to be covered so I am covered in the even of accidents or catastrophic events.
Here in the depressed market of the southeast Michigan region the number of uninsured is on the rise and the biggest hospitals are actually laying off nurses and physicians because their profits are decreasing. In this reagion some smart market oriented physicians are going back to working only with uninsured people by creating upfront pricing non-nonsense clinics. By not accepting insurance, they saved all the crappy paperwork, collection fees and personel for their medical billing. They get paid upfront by their patients less than half of what they used to get through insurace. Their clinics are packed. They have to work more because they have to take care of more people. But they are making more money because of the savings on medical billers, collection agencies, legal, paperwork, no bad accounts receivables, no three to 6 months delays on payments, no denials from insurance companies, etc... If these physicians are making a lot of money by charging half of what they used to get, therefore, based on the market here, physicians rates per patients are OVERPAID.
It's ironic how a depressed economy will bring back the basics of free market enterprise.
Insured people are over paying the doctors for their care, but that's been going on for 30/40 years at least. Back in the 70's an insured couple having a child would pay about $2000. for a routine birth. When I overheard other couples saying their bill would be $900. I asked why the difference, they said they did not have insurance.
The hospital said that was standard policy. The insured are paying for the uninsured.
States require auto insurance because the "at fault" driver must compensate the injured. Auto insurance mandated by the states does not cover repairs, maintenance, wear and tear or intentional abuse like health insurance does. The argument using mandated auto insurance to justify mandated health insurance doesn't hold water.
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