#97823 by fisherman bob
Fri Jan 22, 2010 2:53 am
Fri Jan 22, 2010 2:53 am
Listen to the voice of authority, ME, dammit. Our healthcare "problem" could be solved quite easily. I've heard absolutely nobody offering an alternative to either the giant, cumbersome, bureaucracy creating 2,000 page monstrosity or no legislation at all. It's either we change EVERYTHING or we change NOTHING. Here's MY solution:
1) Significant tort reform. When doctors have to pay 50% of their income (or hgher) for malpractice insurance, then something is WRONG. We need to set a sensible tort reform that significantly lowers the cost of malpractice insurance and still allows patients the opportunity to recover damages done by incompetent doctors.
2) REQUIRE all health practitioners to belong to a A NATIONAL MEDICAL BETTER BUSINESS BUREAU. As of right now a doctor who is practicing in say, Iowa, can screw up the lives of patients and then move his practice to another state, say Kansas, and begin practicing and THE NEW PATIENTS IN KANSAS HAVE NO WAY OF CHECKING HIS PAST RECORD OF INCOMPETENCE. As a consumer I should have the ability to check on a doctor ANYWHERE in the USA and find out if they are good or not.
3) Allow all health insurance companies to sell their policies NATIONWIDE. It is completely ridiculous to me that the states all have such different rules that some insurance companies charge extremely different rates in different states. This is NONSENSE and it should end.
4) Allow importation of pharmaceuticals from ANYWHERE in the world as long as they are tested of course. This will dramatically lower the cost of drugs.
5) Just as I can ship a package with UPS, Fedex, DHL, etc. I can also ship a package with the U.S. Postal Service. WITHOUT CREATING ANY NEW TAXES the United States Government should create its very own health care system that anybody could belong to. I'll call it US Gov Healthcare for now or USGH for short. This new USGH will have its own doctors, its own hospitals and health facilities, its own insurance, etc. and ANY citizen of the U.S. OR ANY non-citizen living in the U.S. can sign up for and pay just like we do for private insurance now. We've been hearing about a "public option" ad nauseum (that means until you puke in Latin). The new USGH would be a completely separate program paid for WITHOUT added taxes. Obama says the government can do healthcare better. Well why don't they prove it first WITHOUT an amendment to the Constitution or without added taxes?
6) ANy healthcare legislation of any kind shoul REQUIRE ALL HEALTH INSURANCE companies to INCLUDE ALL HEALTH PRACTITIONERS IN THEIR POLICIES, including naturopaths (holistic), chiropractic, etc. Anybody who seeks and uses ANY healthcare practitioer WHO IS IN THE NATIONAL MEDICAL BETTER BUSINESS BUREAU should be included in all health inurance policies. This would force a GIGANTIC INSTANT reduction in cost as EVERY FORM OF HEALTH PRACTITIONER WOULD BE COMPETING WITH EVERY OTHER PRACTITIONER. It would BY DEFINITION create instant competition and GIVE CONSUMERS DRAMATICALLY ENHANCED FREEDOM IN CHOOSING WHO WE WANT TO TRUST OUR HEALTH TO.
7) All health insurance policies MUST also include DENTAL COVERAGE. It has been proven that good dental care helps overall health and I NEVER COULD UNDERSTAND HOW DENTAL IS NOT AUTOMATICALLY INCLUDED.
GET RID OF THE GROUP POLICIES. It has never made any sense whatsoever that somebody in a group plan pays just a fraction of what an individual pays. This is INSANE. That's like saying if you're in a group you are much more likely to be healthy. There should be underwriting based on age only. Also get rid of pre-existing conditions. Believe it or not some people get sick don't they? Some people have accidents don't they? EVERYBODY should have access to health insurance PERIOD.
9) Health Savings Accounts. I have ambivalent feeling about these. It seems like the more people who have HSA's the more the insurance companies RAISE the deductibles. The insurance companies are playing a HUGE GAME with this. I say it might be a better idea to have a rule like this: Allow HSA's. Let's say somebody has an HSA and a health insurance policy with a $10,000 deductible and they have a major illness in which they pay out of pocket $5,000 dollars towards. The health insurance company should LOWER THEIR DEDUCTIBLE by the $5,000 or a fraction of that, so that the next time there is an illness they wouldn't have to fork out as much out of pocket IF THEY DON'T WANT TO. The HSA"s are a good way for health insurance companies to almost NEVER PAY for the vast majority of claims. I like the idea of tax savings on HSA's. I dislike the idea of consumers assuming more and more of the cost of our healthcare AND the insurance companies paying less and less claims...that's a BAD trend.
1) Significant tort reform. When doctors have to pay 50% of their income (or hgher) for malpractice insurance, then something is WRONG. We need to set a sensible tort reform that significantly lowers the cost of malpractice insurance and still allows patients the opportunity to recover damages done by incompetent doctors.
2) REQUIRE all health practitioners to belong to a A NATIONAL MEDICAL BETTER BUSINESS BUREAU. As of right now a doctor who is practicing in say, Iowa, can screw up the lives of patients and then move his practice to another state, say Kansas, and begin practicing and THE NEW PATIENTS IN KANSAS HAVE NO WAY OF CHECKING HIS PAST RECORD OF INCOMPETENCE. As a consumer I should have the ability to check on a doctor ANYWHERE in the USA and find out if they are good or not.
3) Allow all health insurance companies to sell their policies NATIONWIDE. It is completely ridiculous to me that the states all have such different rules that some insurance companies charge extremely different rates in different states. This is NONSENSE and it should end.
4) Allow importation of pharmaceuticals from ANYWHERE in the world as long as they are tested of course. This will dramatically lower the cost of drugs.
5) Just as I can ship a package with UPS, Fedex, DHL, etc. I can also ship a package with the U.S. Postal Service. WITHOUT CREATING ANY NEW TAXES the United States Government should create its very own health care system that anybody could belong to. I'll call it US Gov Healthcare for now or USGH for short. This new USGH will have its own doctors, its own hospitals and health facilities, its own insurance, etc. and ANY citizen of the U.S. OR ANY non-citizen living in the U.S. can sign up for and pay just like we do for private insurance now. We've been hearing about a "public option" ad nauseum (that means until you puke in Latin). The new USGH would be a completely separate program paid for WITHOUT added taxes. Obama says the government can do healthcare better. Well why don't they prove it first WITHOUT an amendment to the Constitution or without added taxes?
6) ANy healthcare legislation of any kind shoul REQUIRE ALL HEALTH INSURANCE companies to INCLUDE ALL HEALTH PRACTITIONERS IN THEIR POLICIES, including naturopaths (holistic), chiropractic, etc. Anybody who seeks and uses ANY healthcare practitioer WHO IS IN THE NATIONAL MEDICAL BETTER BUSINESS BUREAU should be included in all health inurance policies. This would force a GIGANTIC INSTANT reduction in cost as EVERY FORM OF HEALTH PRACTITIONER WOULD BE COMPETING WITH EVERY OTHER PRACTITIONER. It would BY DEFINITION create instant competition and GIVE CONSUMERS DRAMATICALLY ENHANCED FREEDOM IN CHOOSING WHO WE WANT TO TRUST OUR HEALTH TO.
7) All health insurance policies MUST also include DENTAL COVERAGE. It has been proven that good dental care helps overall health and I NEVER COULD UNDERSTAND HOW DENTAL IS NOT AUTOMATICALLY INCLUDED.
GET RID OF THE GROUP POLICIES. It has never made any sense whatsoever that somebody in a group plan pays just a fraction of what an individual pays. This is INSANE. That's like saying if you're in a group you are much more likely to be healthy. There should be underwriting based on age only. Also get rid of pre-existing conditions. Believe it or not some people get sick don't they? Some people have accidents don't they? EVERYBODY should have access to health insurance PERIOD.
9) Health Savings Accounts. I have ambivalent feeling about these. It seems like the more people who have HSA's the more the insurance companies RAISE the deductibles. The insurance companies are playing a HUGE GAME with this. I say it might be a better idea to have a rule like this: Allow HSA's. Let's say somebody has an HSA and a health insurance policy with a $10,000 deductible and they have a major illness in which they pay out of pocket $5,000 dollars towards. The health insurance company should LOWER THEIR DEDUCTIBLE by the $5,000 or a fraction of that, so that the next time there is an illness they wouldn't have to fork out as much out of pocket IF THEY DON'T WANT TO. The HSA"s are a good way for health insurance companies to almost NEVER PAY for the vast majority of claims. I like the idea of tax savings on HSA's. I dislike the idea of consumers assuming more and more of the cost of our healthcare AND the insurance companies paying less and less claims...that's a BAD trend.
