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Is my health care plan better than Obama Care?
1. Tort Reform (Loser Pays) - This is not a silver bullet, but it will reduce costs. Even Obama has acknowledged this. Losers of lawsuits pay the opposing sides legal bills.
2. Open up the market nationally – Allow consumers to buy insurance where ever they can get the best plan for their family, whether or not it is in their state.
3. Make consumers of health care responsible for purchasing insurance – There is no reason my employer should select my insurance plan. I should be responsible to purchase insurance just like I purchase my car or home insurance. Insurance companies should be accountable to me, not my employer. Currently, if I am unsatisfied, I have no where to go. To this end, employers can drop insurance plans for employees, but they must pass on the amount they used to pay for health care to the employee. This solution would also remove the issue of insurance portability whenever an employee leaves. Also, insurance companies can charge more for lifestyle behavior which is proven to be more risky (smoking, etc).
4. Tax deduction for individual buyers of insurance, but not for companies – Since employees will now be responsible for their own health care, they will receive the same tax benefits employers currently have.
5. Reduce government regulation – Government should not regulate what will and will not be covered. Consumers should be allowed to choose their specific coverage based on their family needs. Insurance companies should provide a wealth of options in order to capture more business. However, people need to realize they will not be covered for care they have not previously selected (same as home and car insurance).
6. Change the way consumers view insurance – Currently, consumers expect insurance to pay for all health care. Consumers have stopped price shopping because they only pay a small portion of the total cost. Consumers should expect to pay for routine or planned for events like check ups and pregnancy). Imagine if car insurance paid for gas, oil changes, and tire rotations. How much would car insurance go up every year? The way to hold prices down is by having the consumers of health care shop for the best value. To this end, hospitals and doctors should be prepared to give prices for specific procedures, just like car repair shops. These estimates are required after initial tests. Suppliers will also need to justify when the cost is more than the estimate.
7. Preexisting conditions – At an early age (once off parent’s insurance), allow anyone to purchase insurance irregardless of preexisting conditions. If they opt to not purchase insurance, they can be turned down at a later time for preexisting conditions. However, allow them to buy in later by paying a lump sum “buy in” amount to be determined by the free market. Thus, if I wait till I am 30 to buy insurance, maybe I need to pay $3,000 to buy in. If I am 50 before purchasing insurance, maybe I pay $10,000 buy in. Let the market decide. For those who choose not to buy insurance and become seriously ill, they will need to pay for any services they receive.
Volleyball,
2. How is it just about every other product in America is sold nationally? Car insurance, home owners insurance, cars, houses, etc are all sold around this nation and the globe. I am saying to get government OUT of regulating and let people decide their coverage. The government's role should be to enforce laws and protect consumers from shifty sellers (like other products).
3. Wrong! If ins co's offered different plans, they would manage the product. Costs would plummet because you and I could choose what we wanted. I would love a $10,000 deductible plan, but my co. does not offer. I would love to go private, but my wife has pre-existing condition. I spend about $6,000 per year with co' insurance. If I could buy what I want, I would save $3,600 per year. And that's without national plans. So I would save even more. The admin costs are not that high. The responsibility should be on the individual. Being free is not free.
4. See #3. I get the tax break, not my company.
Volleyball,
5. All other products are offered statewide, why not health ins?
6. First of all, read the studies on prevt med. Not the panecia you claim. My wifes friend discovered breast cancer at 40 years old and was cured b/c early detection. The new government plan of no breast exams till 50 may have killed her. Individual takes responsibilty for health. I would get exams, and those who do it now, still would. Those who do not do it now, would not. If people paid for their own visits, the costs would drop. Paying cash saves money. My friend saved $10,000 (+50%) on surgery paying cash.
7. Personal responsibility. If you choose not to get insurance when young, you pay when old. Government forces people 2 buy, which I disagree. They have a choice. But they can not shirk their responsibility and expect someone else to pick up the tab. that's what you are advocating. Sorry, let the individual control their destiny, not you or the government!
3 Answers
- 1 decade ago
1. Again, the best justice money can buy. Enough said.
2. In order to open the market nationally, the laws would have to be common throughout the land. This would mean that insurance law would become a federal responsibility. Isn't that what people are currently screaming about??
3. Uh, many have insurance - AFFORDABLE insurance - because it is offered through employers. It is called quantity purchases. We get breaks for groups purchasing from the same plan. And it allows many larger companies to be their own insurer. Target doesn't have an insurance company holding their insurance - they have a company that is the ADMINISTRATOR, or they basically use Target money to run Target's health insurance plan for the employees. Without this, insurance would SKYROCKET because every individual would have their own plan. There is nothing that says because insurance is offered by your employer you have to take it! So go out and buy your own if you think that you can get something cheaper and better, and more fit for you. Who in the hell told you that if your employer offered it you HAD to take it?
4. So no tax incentive for companies to provide insurance - many of them providing THEIR OWN?? Oh, see #3 for your short fall on that one.
5. Uh, if you want insurance to be nation wide, then the GOVERNMENT has to regulate it. It becomes federal when it is run across state laws. You kidnap someone in your state, it is a state crime. You cross the state line, it becomes a federal offense. Same thing here. See #1.
6. You obviously are backwards. Preventative medicine is what keeps people healthy. If you stop people from getting breaks on preventative medicine, they are only going to see the doctor when they get sick. Many do that now. How are those medical costs?? Pretty high, aren't they?? And I hate to tell you, but even married couples have "accidental" pregnancies. I was on the pill (99.9% effective, so the pamphlet says). I paid out of pocket fully for that each month. And now, because I happened to get pregnant while BEING RESPONSIBLE and trying not to get pregnant until planned on, I should have to pay for the full pregnancy?? After insurance, my 4 year old daughter cost us $3,500.00. So I should have to pay the entire costs because the pill failed me??
7. Uh, there are many young people that don't feel the need. You gonna penalize someone for being young and not preparing for when they are 60? You know the average time a young individual starts a 401K for retirement? It sure as hell isn't 18 - 24 year olds, that's for sure. Good luck with that one. So you will have people that can't afford to buy in for their insurance, so they won't get it. And then they will not be able to pay the bill when they get sick and HAVE to get medical attention. And they will file bankruptcy. And then we - the insured ones - end up getting the costs passed onto us. . . Oh, wait a minute. Isn't that the problem right now??
I will give you kudos for trying, but no. It is no where near being in the same realm as the one currently being proposed. So obviously you need to figure something else out, and the rest of us can thank our lucky stars that you don't represent us or write bills.
- 1 decade ago
Most likely it is but we're not even sure what all's in it because theres a different bill in the house and the senate and they're constantly being amended. But even if it is let me ask you this: If you're buying your own insurance do you really want to pay for someone else's with taxes? - (That's why I'm p.o'd about it)
- myopinionLv 71 decade ago
your plan is much better.. too bad our legislators couldn't come up with one like that.
of course you didn't take into account how much they are making off this.. you know the big payoff etc.
That is why yours is better.. it makes sense.. God forbid government would make any sense!
