From Kamal Siegel, Redmond, WA
"The subject of US healthcare reform has been a huge subject of discourse among my family and friends and through it I’ve been able to formalize my thoughts on the matter as follows:
Universal healthcare is definitely something I could get around to supporting. Healthcare that is paid for by the government through our taxes, that is. But I simply cannot support the idea of being forced to hire a private company to cover my health expenses because that creates motivation for us to remain sick & unhealthy whereas if the government paid for it, there'd be motivation to keep us healthier. More thought might then be put into preventative care.
For example, just imagine that the police force or fire departments were privatized. Bad idea! Any service that is designed to battle the ills of society should be paid for by the government. If it's privatized then there's only motivation for the ills to persist.
And let’s face it. We’re really trying to fix the wrong problem here; that people don’t have health insurance. The right problem to solve would be that people without health insurance can’t get health care. That’s the real issue."
Kamal Siegel (Redmond business owner)
Posted by Bob Yoder with permissions from Kamal
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From Paganne (regular reader) "The government already mis-uses our taxes to pay for medicare (broke), Social Security (broke) and a variety of other ventures they have tried (all broke). Many of us already have preventative care through our employee health plan. I find it insulting you think that means we run to the doctor every time we have a hang nail. Mammograms, well-child care, prostate exams and other "preventative" care coverage are much less expensive in the long run than chemotherapy and extended hospital visits. I am fortunate my family is healthy and we use our coverage and visits wisely.
A much better plan would have been to allow families to adopt health savings plans through employers or privately. Curbing the control the medical insurance industry has on how providers provide care, and how much they will be paid for those services is another way the government could have intervened.
This is just another way for the government to control the money my family works very hard for; and to determine that other people are more deserving of it than we are." By Paganne, Redmond resident
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From Bob YoderThe stock market anticipates the future economy and is considered a 'voting machine'. So far, this health reform bill looks good for our economy. Stocks are up since the announcement, including health care sector. Portability and coverage for pre-exisiting conditions are huge benefits for many families, including mine.
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Your point of view is welcome! Please post your comments at the bottom. I'll move some of them up to this main page. Thank you for your opinion and readership.
Robert: Now you're talkin'! I actually think that this bill is only marginally useful unless the Senate accepts the public option that the house passed. At that point, I can (and will) purchase healthcare insurance from the gub'ment. Kind of the best of all worlds. Buying from the fed is basically like paying the taxes, but you can also choose to buy from a private company. Everybody wins and the private companies are forced to compete.
ReplyDelete"Healthcare that is paid for by the government through our taxes, that is. But I simply cannot support the idea of being forced to hire a private company to cover my health expenses because that creates motivation for us to remain sick & unhealthy whereas if the government paid for it, there'd be motivation to keep us healthier. More thought might then be put into preventative care."
ReplyDeleteThe government already mis-uses our taxes to pay for medicare (broke), Social Security (broke) and a variety of other ventures they have tried (all broke). Many of us already have preventative care through our employee health plan. I find it insulting you think that means we run to the doctor every time we have a hang nail. Mammograms, well-child care, prostate exams and other "preventative" care coverage are much less expensive in the long run than chemotherapy and extended hospital visits. I am fortunate my family is healthy and we use our coverage and visits wisely.
A much better plan would have been to allow families to adopt health savings plans through employers or privately. Curbing the control the medical insurance industry has on how providers provide care, and how much they will be paid for those services is another way the government could have intervened.
This is just another way for the government to control the money my family works very hard for; and to determine that other people are more deserving of it than we are.
The stock market anticipates the future economy and is considered a 'voting machine'. So far, this health reform bill looks good for our economy! Stocks are up since the announcement, including health care sector. Thumbs up!
ReplyDeleteNote to blog admin: I submitted this comment a couple of days ago. Not sure if you received it so I'm sending again.
ReplyDeleteThe health insurance debate, nationally as well as on this blog, has me wondering about the intelligence and thoughtfulness of our fellow citizens. Everyone recognizes that health care is expensive; so obviously health insurance is expensive. You can’t lower the cost of insurance without lowering the cost of health care. You certainly can’t make health insurance cheaper by imposing rules that make it more expensive such as:
• Cover everyone regardless of their current health condition
• Remove all limits of liability – no annual limits, no lifetime limits
If you were an insurance company and wanted to be able to collect enough money to pay all the claims under these rules, would you lower rates or raise rates?
We need to do two things to fix this problem;
• Lower your individual costs by staying healthy – exercise, improve your diet. Be a better consumer of health care services. Don’t run to the doctor office for a cold, flu, muscle strain – Google or Bing the symptoms and educate yourself. Health savings accounts drive this behavior effectively.
• Stop looking for the ‘government’ to be the solution. If you expect to ‘get’ more than you ‘give’ for health care, who is paying the difference? Your friends and neighbors are paying.
I am supportive of subsidizing the health care costs for those who truly cannot work due to debilitating, verifiable disabilities. The rest of us have to find a way to pay our own bills. Since the health care industry, like every other, needs to price their services so that their customers can afford to buy them, we would see the health care system morph into a delivery system that addresses the financial realities. As long as “someone else” is paying the bill, we tend not to care about the cost as much. When costs matter, and patients start shopping for services they can afford, we will see the prices decline.
I know it seems quaint, but the rules of ‘supply and demand’ can work with health care too. If the demand falls due to the high prices, the excessive supply will be available at lower cost.