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We all need access to healthcare, and cherish our doctor-patient relationship, but we also want minimal interference of the federal government and want the users of healthcare to keep costs down.
The government could make contributions to a health saving account set up on behalf of unemployed and low income Americans. Your fund would be used to buy high deductible health insurance and to pay for medical expenses (up to the insurance plans deductible).
TRANSPARENT PRICING
It's hard today to price shop for your services when you get on the phone. Asking a doctor's staff about fees result in annoyances and failure to obtain cost information. Most of us would like hospitals to have one price for every procedure and an hourly rate for every service they give. Then you, your employer, and insurance company, can make cost-effective decisions. The services of doctors should also become more transparent in their pricing. The market will decide.
NO THIRD PARTY PAYMENTS
Dentists, veterinarians, lawyers, all insist on direct payment and avoid the distortions created by a third party client.
If doctors refuse to accept direct third-party payments for their services and resume what was once a standard practice of setting their own fees and requiring payment from you at time of services, it would result in lower costs, improve quality of care, and return to true confidentiality.
It seems the public debate is setting Americans against each other. The White House insists it is in possession of all the answers to the inequalities and ills that have long affected us Americans, whether you know it or not. If you are opposed to these answers you are a cynic or operative, or represent a powerful interest group, or bent on destroying the present administration.
GOVERNMENT POSITION
The reiterating government message is that the health-care proposals as submitted are good for everybody. Healthcare is a human right, and the only honest player is the government. For any healthcare plan to work, it must be universal and guaranteed by the government. All this is fine but we want more than generalities before we are prepared to buy.
Healthcare must be more market friendly and cover the working poor. What it will cost and how we pay for it, are questions unanswered. Everyone agrees there is a need for to lower costs, have more choices, and provide more coverage for everyone. The unanswered question is: Will a government plan achieve these goals? Such a plan must be made more clear and pragmatic.
The government wants a health overhaul public option, in which the federal government offered its own health insurance plan to compete with private insurers. This public option is essential, they say, to keep private insurers honest. (This public option was never even mentioned in the platform on healthcare during the elections.)
WHY ARE WE TROUBLED?
The government quickly took a series of unprecedented actions to stabilize our economy-financial sector, the housing industry, and finally the auto industry.
This resulted in the government owning controlling interest in an insurance company (American International Group), a car company, Chrysler, and 60% of another car company (General Motors), and the largest U.S bank (Citigroup).
The White House immediately moved into debating an overhaul of the nation's healthcare system. Jumping from our troubled economy to a debate on healthcare is difficult for Americans to accept at this time. It’s hard to buy the idea that a solution to our recession hinges on an immediate need for big changes in our healthcare.
WHAT ARE WE LOOKING FOR?
Deep down, we are all concerned about the role of government in America's economy. We don't want to be bullied, moralize, or given speeches in generalities. Despite President Obama's eloquence and capacity to connect, he must reach those of us who have been sitting quietly in their homes listening to him.
Everyone is wondering what the shape and size of our government's role in the economy should be, after months of exceptional government intervention to solve our deep recession. The initial government goal in health reform was for universal coverage for all Americans, not a government insurance program.
The prescription drug benefit plan for Medicare included a public option for the federal government to organize drug plans for seniors if the insurers didn’t offer enough choices. This option was never used, but it's in the law itself.
Perhaps such a public insurance plan option might be acceptable in the same way as used in the prescription plan. If private insurers aren't offering enough options in all markets, a federal health plan could go into effect. Or better yet, the public option might be replaced with a nonprofit insurance cooperative as an alternative. This would not require the government to be directly involved in the health business, and might be acceptable for those that wish the government's role in the health industry be reduced.
What do you think? Visit www.drneedles.com for more discussions of controversial medical subjects.
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