Health Care Reform - Another Democratic Vision

Health care reform has been raging for most of this year.  It was part of the last democratic party platform and has a real chance of becoming a law.

I haven’t been following the health care reform debate as closely as I probably should have, but I haven’t seen any work on the real problem with our existing insurance programs.

For many years, I have felt that none of our elected officials (federal or state) have the best interest of our country at heart. The last time both parties came together in support of the country was after 9/11.

One reason is that I believe that we will get a law that mandates and regulates health care for everyone regardless of the cost. I haven’t seen any indication that the bill will do anything about the spiraling cost of medical care.  I also believe that any real benefit to the middle class will be stripped out in negotiations between the house and senate.

The biggest winners of health care reform will be the pharmaceutical, medical and insurance industries. The size and cost of government will increase. The rest of us will pay for it with higher taxes and more layers of oversight.

At this moment, we have the most expensive medical care in the world (as much as 80% more than some other industrialized countries).  Many people have found and will still find it more cost effective to go another country to get advanced medical treatment. On the plus side, this bill will cause medical tourism will become another big industry.

This reform bill stands it’s greatest chance of becoming real since the democrat party controls both houses of congress and the White House. In the beginning, there was a lot of talk about the process involving everyone and making real change to the way health care is provided in this country.  But that selntiment has largely gone away and the bill is being pushed by a small majority.

Health care will become another entitlement program. A real problem is that the government does not have a good track record for managing the entitlement programs. Look at Social Security and Medicare.

I tried to read the bill (all 1200+ pages) and form my own opinion about whether it would help us. Looking at the bill, reading some summaries and listening to news broadcasts left me feeling numb. I got the following information from the  Speaker of the House website (keep in mind that these are the promises and may not be in the final bill):

Here’s what America’s Affordable Health Choices Act means for you:

LOWER COSTS

* No more co-pays or deductibles for preventive care

* No more rate increases for pre-existing conditions, gender, or occupation

* An annual cap on your out-of-pocket expenses

* Group rates of a national pool if you buy your own plan

* Guaranteed, affordable oral, hearing, and vision care for your kids

GREATER CHOICE

* Keep your doctor, and your current plan, if you like them

* More choice, with a high quality public health insurance option competing with private insurers

HIGHER QUALITY

* You and your doctors make health care decisions - not insurance companies

* More family doctors and nurses will enter the workforce, helping guarantee access

* Mental health care must be covered

STABILITY & PEACE OF MIND

* No more coverage denials for pre-existing conditions

* No more lifetime limits on how much insurance companies will pay

* No reason to ever make a job or life decision again based on health care coverage

There were some major changes to the bill that promises to reduce the deficit, create a public health insurance company (think medicare) and place a surcharge (tax) on the richest folks. You can get the full text of the 10 most significant changes from the Speaker’s website.

If the past is an indication of the future, we have some real problems that have no hope of being fixed unless the people we elect to run our government start thinking about what’s best for our country.  I don’t see that happening any time in the near future.

Related posts:

1. Democratic governors’ health care bind
2. Democratic health care coalition survives deal (AP via Yahoo! News)
3. Democratic Governors Voice Concern Over Health Care Bill
4. Democratic Senators Attack Health Care Compromise on Medicare (Bloomberg via Yahoo! News)
5. Musings On Health Care Reform And The Affect On Small Business