Re: Another Option for Health Care Reform
- From: "George Conklin" <nil@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sat, 22 Sep 2007 17:07:19 -0400
"Tom" <thomaskolter@xxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:1190483626.796227.27210@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
I have two major initial points to make.
1, I feel that health insurance has significantly altered the costs
of
health care by creating an unfair monopoly by insurers, medical
doctors and other providers and effectively eliminating normal free
market mechanisms. That is competition and consumer choice is not
even
an option.
2. The "Universal Coverage" no matter how its done is going to hurt
citizens in the United States. Either it will be mandated and that
means citizens will be coerced to have insurance with the threat of
action by the state either fines or imprisonment. Or there will be a
rationing one-payer system like in socialist nations that takes away
choice.
I have a rather radical idea then to reform health care, Eliminate
all
health insurance save for government and state programs to cover the
truly needy, or elderly who have extraordinary health care need over
younger persons. If you look to the time before health insurance
people still had health care. Doctors and hospitals that were private
charged what people could afford, had clear price structures and had
to compete for the dollars of people seeking care. And practically
all
cities and towns had public hospitals to tend to people based on
ability to pay. And I must add the mandated plan covers the cost of
insurance NOT co-pays or deductibles or the refusal to cover certain
care so it may not be of any value. People are going bankrupt now
WITH
health insurance because these other costs are too high. How do they
expect your average working lower income person or family to meet
those?
Take the situation now I have no insurance so I go to a medical
provider and in most cases I have no clear idea of the exact costs
until they bill me, and can't ask up front how much its going to
cost.
If I go to any other business or service provider such as an auto
repair business I can get a base price and an estimate of the costs.
If I go to a laser eye clinic to get a non-insured procedure I know
exactly what they charge. If I go overseas to India to a private
tourist hospital I would know exactly the cost up front for
everything
and if I have a complication they will fix it at no cost in most of
them. I should note the cost of plastic surgery has been dropping due
to natural market forces since much of that is not insurance financed
care same with non-medically needy laser eye care.
I propose we let market forced take hold again, that we let
innovation
that would naturally happen and the medical care providers at all
levels tell people what they charge, maintain honest and fair
practices of business and even let people go abroad for care if its
more cost effective. Give choice back to the customers.
Are you shilling for the AMA?
.
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