aking325
member
Joined: 08/25/08
Posts: 2
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Trent,
First, I am a huge fan of yours and have been since the very beginning. I love your music and independent thinking but find some of your political views askew.
Certainly, Mr. De La Cruz's story is a sad one and my heart goes out to his family and will donate to her cause when posted; however, I could not disagree more on the way healthcare reform is being handled by the current "leaders" in Washington. To say that healthcare must pass no matter how flawed, is absurd and naive. If a 2,000 page bill costing billions or trillions (hell, a $100 bucks is a lot in my mind) is just a "start", I would hate to see the end result.
This debate has gravitated more around "health insurance" reform than the delivery system itself. Having worked in the insurance industry for almost 10 years, I have seen first hand the unfortunate sides of insurance, but I have also seen waste, corruption and inefficiencies within the healthcare delivery system itself (doctors, hospitals, pharma companies). Yes, costs continue to rise but it is not solely because Insurance companies are making more money, on the contrary. In fact, many in our industry are loosing their jobs as a result of the sluggish economy. (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124947013703607453.html)
What many people do not understand is that pre-existing conditions were put in by insurance companies to prevent people from playing the system. Sure, I would love to drop my homeowner's insurance, life insurance, auto insurance coverage and pick it up only when I need it and pay the same as those who have been paying for years. Insurance, by its very nature, is insuring risk. The greater the risk, the greater the liability. I see people everyday that have paid MUCH less in premium and received 10X the benefit. Many states have guarantee issue and policies are governed by HIPPA portability laws which cannot deny someone coverage who has had continuous coverage for more than 63 days and applies to group and individual coverage. Do away with pre-ex, fine, but costs WILL go up and even MORE people WILL drop their coverage and become uninsured because they know no one will deny them for pre-ex when they need it. Even if guaranteed issue is mandated and an individual policy costs, say $2000 a month, that is much cheaper than paying $500,000 for surgery then dropping coverage once you are better knowing you can always pick it up again when you need it. Furthermore, people will always take chances on getting caught or levied a "fine" for not carrying insurance. I was recently in an auto accident with someone who did not have insurance and guess who paid for it, all of us, on our uninsured motorist premium, not to mention nothing was done to the looser who hit me.
Insurance companies on average post about a 4-5% profit and employ tens of thousands nationwide (many of whom buy CD's, DVD's, t-shirts, posters, concert tickets etc.). It's easy to put all the blame on the insurance companies and impose unreasonable government fees, which will be passed to the consumers.
THE SOLUTION (Partly in my humble opinion):
Why no mention of tort reform (hmmm maybe because most of the douche bags in Washington are lawyers)? Why no mention of regulating pharma giving docs millions of free samples of name brand drugs that, in many cases, are just isomers of the same crap that has been out on the market for years but repackaged and sold at 10X the cost (just look up Prevacid, Nexium, Omeprazole, Kapidex, Aciphex, Zegerid, Prilosec and Protonix); or the constant barrage of pharma commercials? Because, even Mrs. Coakley just held a fundraiser before the election which was funded by big Pharma. Why do we pay more for the same drugs in the US while the rest of the world pays a fraction of the cost? Why no mention of the behind closed door meetings and special concessions to Unions and special interest groups? What happened to C-SPAN open discussion? Why not loosen up individual coverage guidelines and allow people to purchase across state lines which will increase competition?
If anyone thinks the current government healthcare reform bills will result in lower taxes, reduced government size and spending, while INCREASING quality and IMPROVING outcomes is living with blinders on. They need to listen to all sides, forget "right" or "left" and mean what they say before another unfortunate tragedy like Mr. De La Cruz happens again.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/19/2010 11:36PM by aking325.
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