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Consumers need a new approach
to paying for health insurance
The need for health care reform is obvious. But as Washington shows evidence of health care reform going the way of all other historical attempts to reform health care, it may be time for consumers to take back control themselves.
Lack of basic knowledge has kept many consumers away from the consumer driven market. Many believe that universal health care can only be achieved through a single payer health plan, something like Medicare or plans such as those currently in place in Canada, Britain and some other countries.
The apparent advantage of the single payer system is simplicity. Everyone has the same coverage and the same access, at least in theory.
But simple is not always best. Medicare worked really well for years. But now, as the baby boomers join the program, massive financial problems threaten to sink the whole program.
There is another consideration. Most Americans, are by nature, fiercely committed to the concept of personal choice. They want the ability to chose their own doctors and hospitals. They want, and absolutely should want, to have some say in how their health problems are treated. They want to be able to consult other doctors for second opinions. They want to be able to make informed choices about their health and they want to be rewarded when they take the initiative to stay healthy and avoid unnecessary utilization of health care services.
Making informed choices requires education. The internet generation is already quite adept at researching medical conditions and problems on line. Some of the large insurance carriers are now providing their membership with tools to allow insured members to compare pricing for medical services. But this kind of education takes time and effort.
The issue of health care reform seems to be deteriorating into the usual bipartisan bickering which will lead either no where at all or to a system that could bankrupt us or force us into a system which will deny consumers control over their own health care. At the moment, the choice is still yours.
Comments
Why competition among private industry (including private vs. government) doesn't work when it comes to Health Insurance:
The way insurance works is that the premiums those covered pay go into a giant pool that claims are paid from. The more people there are in the pool, the lower everyone's contribution must be. This is because the risk is spread over a greater number of people. Therefore, the less companies there are, the more people will be in each one spreading the risk further, lowering the cost. If we take this example to the furthest extent of one company, then we are looking at extremely low costs. Now if we want to decrease the costs even more from there, we have to eliminate the profit margin that would go to an executive. In this way, government being the monopolized health insurer would be the best way to drop costs to the lowest amount. Add to that the monopoly's ability to negotiate the high drug and medical supply costs and you would lower the amount even more.
Prices would be so low, that all people would be able to be covered by the one government entity.
Based on the structure of insurance, Single Payer is the best way to go. Otherwise, I am in favor of private competition.This would allow doctors to be the private entities competing for customers. The insurer would have to rely on the doctor's expert opinion and pay the claim. Period.
Now, we have insurance companies getting in the way because their risk pool is so small that they can't afford to pay claims and their huge salaries. And since health care is something we are all going to need at some point in our life, it seems that the idea of insurance (which is to protect against unknown risk) is not profitable unless claims are denied.
That being said:
Please support HR 676 and S 703. These are the single payer option bills in the house and the senate. Call your representative and demand they support it. tell your friends to do the same. This is it. It is crunch time.
The only way to make our voices heard is to use them.
www3.capwiz.com/c-span/home/ this will allow you to write all your representatives in one email.
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