Real Healthcare Reform
Sunday, July 12, 2009
I don't have to add much. Newt has it covered here. He makes many good points. The best one here is that if congress forces government run health care on the rest of us then the only health care plan they should be allowed to have is the same government plan.
Most of us are aware that currently congressman have the best health care plans. Newt is absolutely right to state that if the congress and Obama think their big government plan is so great then they should have to be in that same plan like the rest of us. Why does congress deserve special treatment. What makes them so special, from what I've seen these last few years we work a lot harder than they do.
If they object to being forced into the plan then they'll have to answer why. That answer should be interesting. Any loopholes exploited by the congress should be heavily exposed as hypocrisy. Keep in mind these are the same people that talk about how wonderful the public school system is while many send their own kids to private schools.
2 comments:
Insurance reform + medical provider reform = health care reform, right? Utah health insurance reform has been center focus for the state, UAHU and private insurance carriers over the past 24 months. Mike Oliphant (UAHU board webmaster) runs a small Utah based health insurance website http://www.BenefitsManager.net as well as http://www.HealthInsuranceSource.net. Mike’s viewpoint provides a unique analysis which comes from being a “fly on the wall” observer in countless state session and insurance meetings. “Utah has been thrust into a state insurance reform pressure cooker which isn’t necessarily negative where I am an insurer, insured and patient”. Several interesting changes took place with H.B. 188 passage earlier this year which seems all too familiar to the ongoing federal health care reform attempt under Obama’s administration. The spirit of the bill allows private Utah market place remedies. It essentially guarantees a Utah health insurance carrier a "no loss" or "no gain" premise over competing carriers that operate within the “Utah Insurance Exchange portal”. On the surface it would seem unattractive to a carrier’s consideration (voluntary at this point). But you have to understand the carriers’ goal is to cover their administration fees and maintain a 3% profit. The Utah health insurance reform model claims this can be accomplished now by legislation and the watchful eye of the state’s risk adjuster board. The medical claim risks are essentially shared equally among the participating carriers. Therefore, the carriers can focus on administration efficiencies more so than competition over a fluctuating market share. Insurance carriers such as SelectHealth have efficiencies and risk management experience polished by long tested actuarial tables with health statistics and claim trends. Is it a bad idea to share that experience with a national carrier such as Humana? Would it surprise anyone to know that maternity NICU and anti-depressants represent the highest utilization in health insurance costs for medical and pharmacy in Utah? Compare this to Texas which suffers from abnormally high levels of diabetes and liver disease per capita.
The other half of the “health care reform equation” is medical provider and billing practices. The state claims this is on the agenda. It is popular belief among Utah legislators that reform stops with the insurance carrier. However, how can the insurance carrier continue to bear the risk and re-distribution of health insurance premiums back out the door in claims without provider billing reform? Add to this obstacle a continuing shrinkage of the insured populace. Obama’s administration proposes mandatory participation in a health insurance policy by employers of all sizes, self employed and unemployed populace. The logic being to shore up the unhealthy with healthy premium. When analyzing the Massachusetts’s system, you actually pay a penalty if you have no proof of coverage. The benefit level and health insurance price is nowhere close when you compare Utah health insurance quotes through http://www.benefitsmanager.net or dental insurance quotes at http://www.dentalinsuranceutah.net. Utah premium is easily half. This insight comes from a Utah health insurance agent whom often interacts with employers and residents looking for affordable coverage, making sure claims are paid correctly, implementation and explanation of the many policy procedures and putting a complex SelectHealth insurance language in understandable terms.
"Obama's administration proposes mandatory participation in a health insurance policy by employers of all sizes, self employed and unemployed populace." Sounds great but who pays for the unemployed, Obama? His economic policy is causing the unemployed to rise, to be fair Bush's more recent economic policy wasn't much better, stimulus etc. "Romneycare" has been a disaster and the only group polled that says care has been the same or improved by the Mass system are the over 100k earners. Both the under 20K crowd ,(the poor), and the 20K - 60k crowd have been overwhelmingly polled as saying it's gotten worse. I think "universal health care" are code words for government run health care. I haven't seen government run much of anything well recently. We know you can't trust them with our money, why should I trust them with my health? I'm skeptical because of one thing many seem to remember, "government is not the solution to the problem, government is the problem" - Ronald Reagan
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