Many of you know I like to follow politics. I just like to know what is going on, who is doing what, and what decisions are being made. Lately I've been completely engrossed in the Health Insurance Reform Debate. I'm curious to know what others have learned, their personal experiences with the insurance companies and care providers, and what some of your ideas are for reform.
This is what I know. The cost of health care is too expensive. This can be blamed on all of us, but care providers truly do take the brunt of the blame. Some ideas for lowering costs are cap malpractice suit settlements, pay doctors a salary rather then per procedure, make health records electronic so that all your doctors can share test results rather then duplicating procedures, increase access to preventative care so that more costly illnesses can be detected early or avoided all together, allow hospitals to be able to verify citizenship before non-emergency care is administered, and create a panel, much like the ones that exist for defense and the economy, that tracks medical procedures and medicines and eliminates those that just don't work very well.
Personally, I think all of these are good ideas and should be included in any reform. If we want to slow down how quickly costs are going up, then we need to eliminate a lot of waste.
What I also know is that insurance companies have had too much power and not enough competition to keep costs low. Instead of offering us lower premiums by becoming more efficient, they lower costs by offering less coverage (my insurance just went up $500 a year for less coverage, my parents plan they offer the employees at Pioneer Pit Stop has been eliminated and they get to choose from small list of more expensive, less coverage plans), and denying coverage to someone because of a pre-existing condition. Pre-existing conditions can include pregnancy (some states have laws against this), cancer, disability, chronic problems such as heart defects. Also, many plans have lifetime caps on what the insurance company will pay. So if you become gravely ill, you could be cut from your plan because your care is costing them too much.
In the final reform bill, there needs to be clearly defined rules against the above mentioned health insurance practices.
Our federal and state governments are already facing deficits, and those will continue to increase as the baby boomers come closer to retirement. Lowering health care costs is just one piece of the puzzle, but it is an important piece as Medicare is a key part of American's retirement. It is also the job of the government to promote our "General Welfare". I believe that ensuring that all of us can receive medical attention when needed is a part of our General Welfare.
What has been so upsetting about this whole debate, is how amazingly stupid many of our so called journalists and politicians are. Thank goodness Sarah Palin resigned, she has no place in politics. Her comments about her son with Down's syndrome having to face a death panel if reform is passed is not only completely untrue, but does nothing to help reform take place. She may be against parts of the propossed plans, but to lie is completely immoral. I know for a fact that the largest provider of services for people with disabilities, Easter Seals, endorses the presidents reform ideas and have been actively participating in writing legislation specifically for people with disabilities. And then there's Rush, Fox News, Lou Dobbs, and a whole host of talking heads who continue to try to scare us from any reform at all. Oh and our gem of a House Minority Leader John Boehner (R) who is only interested in saving the insurance companies from the big bad government. But, who am I to assume that elected officials are supposed to look out for the people. Ah, and the wonderful Senator from Montana, Mr. Baucus (D). That man has so much money in him from the insurance companies its no wonder the plan out of the Senate Finance Commiittee is little more then a slap on the wrist and does not do enough to slow the rising costs of care.
I don't want the comments to be about the president. We can agree to disagree because I know most of you did not vote for him. However, common sense leads us to believe that reform in the health care field is vital as our country recovers from a major financial meltdown. Let's put politics aside and discuss health care reform.
Note: I did not mention the public option because I do not believe it will be in the final bill that passes the house and the senate. I do not see the point in discussing an option that most likely won't happen. The senate does not have 60 votes for a plan that includes a public option, and this bill will not pass with a simple majority in the senate.
