Everyone has been talking about the Obama Administration’s Health Care Plan. No one seems to know very much about it, though. Rumors about what it includes abound, but real information on the several proposals working their way through congress is in short supply.
Here’s my wish list…
What we need for Health Care:
1.) Universal Minimum Insurance.
Nobody should be without a minimum level of health insurance. It only makes sense that someone, no matter how poor, should be taken care of. If they aren’t they only become a burden to some other agency.
Employers should be required to provide a minimal level of health insurance to their employees. It should be a part of the minimum wage. If they want to offer more, even with an employee contribution, fine, but the minimum should be a given. An employer that offers health insurance should not have to compete with another that does not have that expense.
2.) Universal Doctor’s Claim Form.
One of the biggest obstacles to cost-efficient health care is the amount of time and expense spent by the doctors offices in filing claims. Every insurance policy is different and every company has a different form to fill out. While much has been improved by computer forms, it still takes a billing professional to keep the office running and solvent. A universal form that works for every company would help.
3.) No “Pre-Existing Condition” Exclusions.
If you’ve ever been faced with this dilemma, you know what a rip off it is. Along with universal minimum insurance, the idea of a “pre-existing” condition should go away. Fix the patient, let the insurance companies sort out who pays.
4.) Make Health Care and Health Insurance Non-Profit, Public Benefit Industries.
This is the biggest problem in our health care system. Too many people are trying to make a buck off other people’s sickness. In fact, getting people healthy and turning a profit are sometimes at odds as a goal. We need to keep our hospitals, doctors, and research labs going, but why should they be designed to make a profit for stockholders? I’m not so sure the government should run everything, but let’s go for a middle ground where they are independent, but non-profit. The beneficiaries of the system should be the patients.
