On Health Care Reform
Interesting insights into the Democrat’s goals with health care reform from the Humble Libertarian:
He affirms that this is what an educated, honorable, realistic, democracy should support:
- Younger people should pay more
- Healthier people should pay more
- Older people should just die- they’re “too expensive”
- There should be “less innovation” in medical technology
- You should not expect to live longer than your parents.
Robert Reich is simply dead wrong. The Democrat’s approach to supposed health care reform is old school and old thinking. Real reform would hinge upon:
- Open up coverage across state lines for insurnace providers.
There simply isn’t a good reason that providers are limited and blocked from crossing state lines. If insurance is predicated on a large coverage pool to help cover individuals that do need it, then why would you limit the size of the pool of people? - Set clear criteria for malpractice suits.
We should not limit the amounts of suits, but instead crack down on fraudulent suits directly. - Clarity into pricing
Consumers need to know what they are paying for and how much it costs. I recently had a minor surgery and couldn’t get a clear answer from anyone about how much the procedure was going to cost. - Focus on innovation and quality of life
We should NEVER lose our focus on improving therapies and treatments. The longer that people are alive and well, the more productive they are.
The goal of having more people have less access to health care is simply wrong and Robert Reich and others who think like him should be ignored completely.
We have to stop dividing this issue between Democrat and Republican, because I simply don’t remember any point during the past Republican administration when health care reform even came up as an issue to discuss. The Democratic party is attempting something, but it isn’t the complete answer to the riddle. The Republicans, most, don’t want health care reform at all. Both sides are wrong in this debate.
What we want to ignore though is who walks away “sitting pretty” and who continues to be squandered? The Insurance Industry, even if the “threatening” public option were to be put into effect will always walk away profiting off of your health. The model of health care can’t be fixed until we take a moment to reflect upon this. Health insurance is a for-profit industry, where is there money coming from? And what exactly do they not want you to do? Get sick. Well, it happens.
There are roughly 46 million Americans who don’t enjoy the luxury of health insurance at all, they have no coverage. Some are old and some are fresh faces right out of the doors of college, but they are all in the same boat, they can’t afford to get sick, at all. How is this right? I am being ethical and idealistic, but let us also not forget that our nation was found on ethics and morals, they are alive in our constitution.
If for nothing else, let us reflect upon our recent ranking of #37 best country for health care, according to the World Health Organization. http://www.ourblook.com/component/option,com_sectionex/Itemid,200076/id,8/view,category/#catid107
We are holding onto a broken model of health care that is outdated. People hold onto jobs they hate because they are offered health benefits, that aren’t fantastic, but cover their needs. Where is the benefit when an individual is more likely to have health problems due to stress and anxiety? We are living in a catch 22 version of health care and it is time not to break the cycle.
J Maguire
13 Oct 09 at 11:18 am