Full coverage insurance is an expensive bureaucratic nightmare, but the high deductible/HSA approach simplifies things immensely and wouldn’t cost anywhere near as much. The problem is that the current tax code all but forces most people into employer-provided health insurance, which workers have no choice in selecting and little incentive to use wisely. Giving individuals the same tax advantages businesses get and encouraging the high deductible/HSA tag team would give people dramatically more control. The refundable tax credit Sen. McCain proposed would help lower income people pay for it with minimal bureaucracy. It’s a tough sell though since people have been conditioned to expect their insurance company to pay for every little thing, even though insurance should only be for solvency-threatening unexpected bills (like complicated pregnancies). If it’s expected, why pay an insurance company to pretend to pay it?

Its great for you, but I’m married and have two young kids. We just went through a pregnancy and delivery that cost in excess of $10K and we now have regular wellness visits and immunizations and the like.

While I respect your right to choose that policy, I don’t think it is realistic for most families. A private option for my family, would have cost somewhere in the neighborhood of $1,200 to $1,5000 per month excluding deductibles and co-pays.

In my opinion, the quality of our health care is very good but our system of insurance and access is completely broken.

I’ve spent a lot of time in Canada and know a few Canadian Docs..and I can tell you, they have very little desire to practice in the US. Mainly because the private sector insurance buracracy is absolutely insane and the intent is to make things as difficult as possible to not pay. They prefer the single payer system.

Actually, it worked great when I had to use it. I also discovered that (some) hospitals charge cash customers a multiple of what insurance companies pay, presumably in a feeble attempt to make the insurance companies think that they’re getting a big “discount”. Customer service has been very good too. It still goes up an annoying percentage every year but off of a much more reasonable base. I bought via a familiar local insurance agent.

I guess you don’t want government tampering with your Medicare insurance either.

We need to keep government out of Medicare. God forbid.

Lois writes, “the insurance companies are in the business for the huge profits they are making.”

Problem is that this is not true. A recent PriceWaterhouseCoopers study shows their profit margin to be only 3%. 87% of collected premiums get paid back out in fees to providers, and 10% gets eaten up in overhead, government compliance costs, etc. Nothing out of line there.

While there is much to critique in the way the insurance companies do business, particularly in terms of the “fee for service” model of payments, excessive profits is not one of them. Nor is denial of coverage for pre-existing conditions. The insurance business is a pooling of risk. Why would anyone expect them to take high risk individuals into that pool? It would merely raise the premiums on the rest of the pool. Expecting insurance companies to be anything other than they are, i.e., private, for profit businesses, is folly.

It should be clear to all that the current system of delivering health care is not viable in the long term. Too many people have no access and costs are too high. Health care spending is currently at ~17% of Gross Domestic Product and rising rapidly. Switzerland is a distant 2nd at ~11%. Canada, Germany, Japan, the UK, and France all spend less than 11%.

So it is not a simple matter of getting insurance coverage for those who do not have it. That actually should be fairly easy, though painful for those who must foot the bill.

The real challenge is not around who pays, but how much we pay. The ultimate goal, should be getting the escalating costs under control, so our businesses can be competitive in world markets, and our shared resources and our private wealth can be devoted to economic growth rather than health care. I have seen nothing in any of the current plans that really addresses that.

I confess, that having said all that, I do not have a solution. But I am quite skeptical that simply providing coverage through public/private insurance plans will begin to fix what is actually wrong.

Sammy thinks…
“The math is simple:
Insurance company’s bottom line = profits
Government’s bottom line = people”

The math isn’t that simple.

The high deductible insurance is great until you have to use it. And, it doesn’t work for everyone.

Also…you should learn a little more about the Canadian health system before you slam it.

Is this the language of non-partisanship, hope and change? Is this yet another topic where debate is not allowed?

Besides, if America goes full-on socialist as is obviously the ultimate goal, where will Canadians go for health care? See, it’s bad foreign policy too ;-).

“when the last dog is shot”: an allusion to the Blue Dogs?

Also, as far as I know, according to the Congressional Budget Office, medical malpractice lawsuits only account for 1/2 of 1 percent of health care cost. So stripping Americans from their only recourse on negligent doctors and hospitals is not the answer. It’s just another right-wing talking point.

And as far as “government” being in my bedroom…I’m guessing you are comparing a session between a female and her doctor and keeping the moral police out of it to a Medicaid-like system. The hole in your story is that we have HMO’s (corporate bureaucrat) between the doctor and patient in the current system.

The current system is a massive failure for not only 50 million of us, but for those that have paid premiums for years only to have their policies rescinded for a ridiculous reasons. If it wasn’t, we’d not be discussing it.

The math is simple:
Insurance company’s bottom line = profits
Government’s bottom line = people

People vs. profits is what this system adds up to.

Health care costs are one of the most significant issues facing business owners, large and small. Imagine the innovations and productivity that would be possible if some part of this burden was removed from the private sector.

We will always have choice – you can pay out of pocket – but right now we have one of the worst health care systems in the Western world.
I would love to see support for prevention and lifestyle choices built into the system. A health care system built on wellness and rewarding people who learn to nourish and care for themselves. I eat well, exercise an hour plus a day, meditate, and do all sorts of things to stay healthy. When I apply for insurance, that makes no difference.

Meanwhile, millions of us are indeed one health crisis away from bankruptcy, not to mention at increased risk of permanent disability, poor medical care, and even death. For many people it is already too late, and for me some resolution can’t come too soon.

Washtenaw County has a great health insurance program for low income people. And it is now overfilled. No more new enrollments. One more safety-net gone. From family members to clients, to friends and my own personal struggle, this isn’t an abstract question. This is at best quality of life, and for many life and death. The current proposed program isn’t perfect, I agree. But the current situation for many is a total catastrophe.
Try and imagine what it would be like to have chest pains and not have the luxury to just call for help, instead having to balance the risk of a real heart attack vs. paying thousands of dollars you don’t have for gas pains. This system is beyond broken, it is killing people.

If a few people are inconvenienced in the process of health care reform? No comparison to the life altering devastation that is already going on all around us.