I thought I would
look at the change.gov website and see what the President elects people put out
for programs. I briefly looked at their healthcare ideas. Below I
copied what they had on the site on 11 Jan 09. That I've reproduced and
left it in black. I added my comments in blue between the lines.
Make Health Insurance Work for People and Businesses -- Not Just Insurance
and Drug Companies.
Require insurance companies to cover pre-existing conditions so all
Americans regardless of their health status or history can get comprehensive
benefits at fair and stable premiums.
This is not an effective proposition. The
better idea: require insurance companies to continue to pay for
medical conditions which occurred while they were the insurer until the
condition is fully resolved even if the sick person no longer is carried by
that insurance company.
The reason the Obama-Biden plan is faulty is because
even though the insurance company will be required to take someone with
pre-existing conditions the companies will still be able to charge a higher
premium to people who are already sick. These premiums will be so high
it will take all the sick persons savings. The proposed system really
doesn't provide a means for insurance because sick people still end up in
the poor house. Once they are there the insurance company can still
cancel them for non-payment.
If you set up the system so that if a person gets in
an accidents or develops diabetes or is born with a bad liver and the
insurance company is responsible for the treating the patient until those
conditions are resolved then the company will be required to make the front
end premiums high enough to cover people when they actually got sick.
It will also provide them incentive to try and keep that particular sick
person covered by their own company. If they were still responsible to
cover the diabetes and all the complications that follow then they might as
well get some premiums from this person. So instead of this person
getting priced out of insurance the companies these
people may end up getting even better rates then they had previously.
Suppose company A is the insurer when the diabetes is diagnoses. This
makes them responsible for treating the sick person's diabetes and if the
diabetes causes heart disease, blindness, gout etc then company B may offer
this person really good rates to be the insurer of the other diseases which
the first company is not responsible to treat.
In the system I propose the insurance works like
insurance is suppose to work. The patient pays "upfront" for
protection and receives care. In the Obama-Biden plan people still end
up in the poor house and then get thrown out on the street unless they are
really lucky.
Create a new Small Business Health Tax Credit to help small businesses
provide affordable health insurance to their employees.
From my other writings you can see I don't believe
in the Government trying to make things "cheaper" by offering tax
credits or stipends for desired behavior. In general this leads to
false markets. Ethanol is a good example of Government wasting
supplements. If the government is supplementing small businesses now
by treating their employees at emergency rooms then tax these companies
enough to cover the cost.
Lower costs for businesses by covering a portion of the catastrophic
health costs they pay in return for lower premiums for employees.
Having the government pay part of the premium will
only lead to higher premiums. This will make it look like the
government is helping the little person get insurance but in reality those
people will only be covered for a little while. Eventually, the the
price the insured will pay will increase until the same number of people who
are covered now will end up being covered again. The only difference
is the insurers will be getting more new money the government is planning to
infuse into the system.
Look at the history of the health care system in the
US. Though the intention was good, it was actually the unions and
government employees getting health insurance that has driven the cost of
health care out of reach for so many Americans. This is a classic
example of supply and demand laced with a lesson against socialism.
Basically, unions and government employees infused a huge amount of money
into the system vying for a limited supply of care yet the employees were
not given any incentive to ensure cost effectiveness. Bam we get
inflationary healthcare cost. This Obama-Biden proposal will just add
to those inflationary pressures yet do nothing to increase the supply.
I personally think the entire "health care
insurance" concept as employed in the US is not capable of providing
efficient healthcare. I we continue in this avenue we will continue to
pay the most per capita and still get least amount of care for our
dollars.
Prevent insurers from overcharging doctors for their malpractice insurance
and invest in proven strategies to reduce preventable medical errors.
I'd like to get rid of the malpractice insurance in
it's present form as well. The current system is great for people like
John Edwards. When he wins a case it allows him to pay for that
mansion. However, it is hit or miss if someone who is disable for life
get enough to productively. I'm for a more socialistic system
concerning the disabled. To me it doesn't matter how the person became
paraplegic that person should get enough care and support to live
productively. It makes no sense that one family should win a $18
million court case where the trial lawyers end up with $6 million and the
family ends up paying $9 million (because of the alternative minimum tax)
and so ends up with 3 million dollars while 19 other families in the same
situation have to get by on government assistance. It makes more sense
to figure out some way to get that $18 million into some form of government
run program that goes to making the lives of all 20 of the paraplegics
productive. Cut the lawyer's $6 million out and spend maybe a million
in administrative cost instead.
Make employer contributions more fair by requiring large employers that do
not offer coverage or make a meaningful contribution to the cost of quality
health coverage for their employees to contribute a percentage of payroll
toward the costs of their employees' health care.
Again the proposed solution is to add more money
(demand) to a system whose supply is limited. A prescription for
making the system even more expensive for the uninsured.
Establish a National Health Insurance Exchange with a range of private
insurance options as well as a new public plan based on benefits available
to members of Congress that will allow individuals and small businesses to
buy affordable health coverage.
What is this?
Ensure everyone who needs it will receive a tax credit for their premiums.
Tax credits - again add more money into a system
without enough supply. A prescription for more healthcare inflation.
Commentary on Demand