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One has to wonder why politicians have made it so complicated to provide universal health care.
I suspect that the Republicans are afraid of big government and the hidden far left agenda. The Democrats (far left fringe) are worried that the problem will be solved without allowing them to expand the role of government into our lives.
But, there is a simple solution to the health care problem.
Presently, the cost of health insurance is expensive because the plans provide up to $5 million in coverage. Plus, the cost of health care services increases dramatically each year.
So, the logical steps would be to limit coverage (by the health insurance companies not the government) and slow down the rising cost of health care.
Let’s take them one at a time.
Limited Coverage Plans
Most of you reading this who are under 65 will never spend more than $5,000 on your health care in one year. Sure, you might have one bad year and some of you will have illnesses that cost a lot more. But, as a population, only a very small percentage will spend that much in a year or have more than a few physician office visits.
If you health insurance plan provided for ten office visits with a co-pay, $2,000 in prescriptions with a prescription co-pay, a physical including blood work and up to $10,000 in inpatient and outpatient services, most if not all of your health care needs would be covered.
Such a plan would be cheap and could be offered on a guaranteed issue basis. Insurance companies could compete by throwing on extras like dental cleanings, eye exams, etc.
Pay attention, here is where Uncle Sam steps up to the plate.
If you needed more extensive treatment, the government re-insurance program would pay for it. You would pay a small fee based on income to cover this catastrophic portion of the plan.
Now, everyone can get cheap, high quality health care. The health insurance companies and their employees are not out of jobs and capitalism, in spite of Michael Moore, continues to flourish.
But, to make it work, you need everyone to participate. They can buy it from any company they like, but they must obtain a plan.
What happens if health care costs rise?
It does not matter. The insurance carriers have fixed their benefits and liabilities. The federal government however has a real stake in keeping health care costs in check.
Limiting Health Care Costs
I could rattle off a list of initiatives that would cut health care costs. Some of them will appear to be common sense and some will be insulting to some people or appear to trample on their civil rights. But, let me take a crack at it.
1. If everyone has health insurance and gets a checkup every 24 months and then every 12 months past 40, you will catch high cost medical problems much earlier. As a result, disease management programs for diabetes, high blood pressure, early cancer detection, etc. will help contain costs.
2. You do not want to institute medical protocols. The current administration likes this but it does not let you practice medicine. Medical care becomes cookbook which is fine for maybe 70% of the population but could kill a lot of people. But, you could institute best practices in hospitals and clinics. Some institutions do a much better job than others.
3. Electronic records will be hell to implement and expensive but worthwhile in the end. It will save money and lives.
4. Wellness needs to be a national passion. We are a nation of fat, drunk, sedentary, drug abusing, cigarette smoking citizens. But it needs to be started in the schools and workplace. The whole nation needs to be involved. You might actually have to put physical education back into the schools.
5. When I was a child, you could not go to the next grade if you did not have a note that said you went to the dentist. How about you cannot get your tax refund if you do not get a checkup.
6. We need massive education programs for primary care physicians, nurse practioners and physician assistants. If everybody has health care you will wait forever to see a doctor.
7. Give the program to illegal aliens from any country or planet as long as they can pay for the basic plan. You do not need to have your gardener, chamber maid, roof installer, etc. getting sick and spreading disease. If you are an illegal alien and have a better job than the ones I just mentioned, you are taking work away from a citizen and you need to get the hell out of our country and come back in legally. We have enough unemployment as it is.
8. Provide massive funding for medical research. We can cure lots of diseases that will cost us massive amounts of money in the future. Yes, we need stem cell research.
9. Make Medicare fraud a serious crime. You cannot go after everyone, it is too expensive. But randomly go after physicians, labs and hospitals that do just a little cheating. It will scare the hell out of the rest. They know that unless you steal tens of thousands you do not show up on their fraud radar. Make an example of a few and have them guessing whether they will be next.
10. You must include some dental coverage. It is part of health care.
11. Expand the concept of basic coverage with government backup to home health care, assisted living and nursing home care. I am getting old and need it. While you are at it, how about covering my dog. The vet bills are killing me.
I could go on but you get the idea. I bet you could add a few to the list.
As a side note, this system could be modified for Medicare age individuals. Medicare is broke, more people are using it and fewer are paying into it. Medicare fraud accounts for about 80 billion dollars a year. Medicare is a government program that works because it loses money. It is not successful from the standpoint of being sustainable. The government, bless their heart, really sucks at running large enterprises.That is why we need to keep them out of the health insurance business.
If you are truly interested in providing health care for everyone, this is a way to do it. If you have a better idea, let your congressional representatives know about it.
Nobody should have to go without health care.
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