What do you think of Obama's Optional Health Insurance plan?
I recently received an email with the information given below. One thing that I didn't realize, and that I don't think is stressed enough, is that this plan is only an option – each American has complete freedom to choose this plan or keep the plan they already have. The government is not trying to take over or control your life.
This is not something out of Orwell and 1984.
From the email:
5 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT OBAMA'S PUBLIC HEALTH INSURANCE OPTION
The choice of a public health insurance plan is crucial to real health care reform. Here's what you really need to know:
1. Choice, choice, choice. If the public health insurance option passes, Americans will be able to choose between their current insurance and a high-quality, government-run plan similar to Medicare. If you like your current care, you can keep it. If you don't—or don't have any—you can get the public insurance plan.
2. It will be high-quality coverage with a choice of doctors. Government-run plans have a track record of innovating to improve quality, because they're not just focused on short-term profits. And if you choose the public plan, you'll still get to choose your doctor and hospital.
3. We'll all save a bunch of money. The public health insurance option won't have to spend money on things like CEO bonuses, shareholder dividends, or excessive advertising, so it'll cost a lot less. Plus, the private plans will have to lower their rates and provide better value to compete, so people who keep their current insurance will save, too.
4. It will always be there for you and your family. A for-profit insurer can close, move out of the area, or just kick you off their insurance rolls. The public health insurance option will always be available to provide you with the health security you need.
5. And it's a key part of universal health care. No longer will sick people or folks in rural communities, or low-income Americans be forced to go without coverage. The public health insurance plan will be available and accessible to everyone. And for those struggling to make ends meet, the premiums will be subsidized by the government.
What do you think? How much will it cost? Any other, better solutions?
It will slowly destroy our health care system-just like medicaid
1. No Choice in the long run. They'll run it like they run medicare and undercut the hospitals. By doing so the Government will be able to keep their premiums low.
Hospitals will then look to make up that cost — they'll siphon them to the private carriers to be found in private insurance premiums.
It's only a matter of time before it runs the private enterprises into the ground.
The next step will be to propose Universal Health Care as Hospitals will have to close their doors when they can't pick up the added costs via private carriers.
They'll go bankrupt — crisis — UHC!
It's reckless. There's a definite need for reform, but I think this is the path to UHC, a system that's failing around the World.
The two options that UHC is always faced with:
A. Raise taxes to keep up w/ rising costs (U.S.'s Medicare was included in the Stimulus Bill — Canada just injected Hundreds of Billions into their system cloaked in "stimulus")
B. Reduce user benefits – rationing board. (The Rationing Body in the UK recently put mid-stage breast cancer on the list of complications NOT covered in their system. They can fly somewhere for specialized treatment or die).
2. High quality until cost becomes too high — gotta either raise taxes or reduce user benefits. Look no further than Medicare — doctors hate it b/c the Government doesn't pay. It's 40 billion in debt and many doctors refuse to see Medicare patients. Consequently, if the money never ran out, Medicare would be 20 TRILLION in debt in 50 years according to a recent report.
3. Government is not efficient — we'll lose big on this. Costs will continue to rise — taxpayers will be leveraged to cover the cost.
4. Legal recourse handles those problems if they even arise. I've never had a problem with my insurance — I pay on time and when I need to be seen, they pick up the tab.
5. "Forced to go without coverage" — are we talking about the same people who have 52" flat screen TV's with Escalades in their front yard sitting on 24's?
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I think it's a recipe for disaster.
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There will be no option. My employer will drop my insurance and force me to go on the government program.
Where does the government get money for this? $3.7 trillion deficit, Geitner just announced today that Medicare, which covers ONLY the senior citizens and the disabled, will be flat broke by 2017. How then do you propose expanding it to cover everyone?
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It will slowly destroy our health care system-just like medicaid
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Oh yes it will be great.Having the govt in your health care is just what you want.There will still be a triple level care 1)the wealthy that can afford to have good insurance 2) the middle and working class …that gets the worst care in america because we have high deductible and cant afford the cost of insurance.3) the poor or so called poor(we all know welfare is the most abused system we have)now day if you can get some welfare for health care then you are the healthiest person in America because you can always find someone that takes welfare so you don't have anything to worry about.No it will still be the middle class getting the screw just wait and see.Oh and their track record with medicare should scare anyone away.
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Sounds good. Nobody will be told that they can't keep their current coverage, which was a big part of what defeated Clinton's health care reform, and yet it will see that people who want "affordable" health care will be able to purchase it.
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Seems like it will give us more choices. That's a good thing, isn't it? Americans like to have freedom of choice.
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I think it doesn't tell us what we really need to know- that is, how much will it cost, and who is going to pay for it? When they cut costs by reducing payments to doctors, where are we going to go for care when more and more doctors drop out of the system because the government program doesn't reimburse enough to cover expenses (just try to find a doctor or dentist that takes Medicaid)?
Better solution= keep insurance private and make it mandatory.
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