The haves and the have nots
The insured and the uninsured
Health care reform, public options, death panels, waiting six months for a x-ray. These are all common phrases being spoken in the media in regards to the health care reform bill that the President is proposing. I went from a working young adult with no insurance to working for a hospital receiving excellent health benefits. The irony of this is my new job put me behind a computer billing people who were just like me, working with no coverage. I went from receiving a medical bill and not being able to pay it, to billing someone $2000 for a MRI.
I decided to visit the white house official web page to see exactly what all the discussion was about.
I want to highlight a few points of the President's plan.
If You Have Health Insurance
- Prevents insurance companies from dropping coverage when people are sick and need it most
If You Don't Have Insurance
- Creates a new insurance marketplace – the Exchange – that allows people without insurance and small businesses to compare plans and buy insurance at competitive prices
Reins In the Cost of Health Care for Our Families, Our Businesses, and Our Government
- Creates an independent commission of doctors and medical experts to identify waste, fraud and abuse in the health care system
- Requires large employers to cover their employees and individuals who can afford it to buy insurance so everyone shares in the responsibility of reform
Now exerts that I just shared from the White House website is not what I was looking for. What I really wanted to see was how the bill will be drafted in Congress, but since it has yet to make it to the floor, I will with what I have.
Now the President's plan is extremely ambitious. After reading it, I see the good but I see it as very idealistic as well.
The President wants to force insurance companies to continue medical coverage for people even after they exhausted their benefits. Most insurance companies will only allow you a certain amount of doctor, clinic or emergency visits a year. After you reached your max, the insurance company has the legal right to deny you coverage. So what happens if you get sick and need additional coverage? Critics of the President's plan say you have the option of going to the Emergency Room. Let's say you have the flu and need antibiotics and you go to the Emergency Room. Well working for a hospital, I know they charge you $500 just to see there and see a Triage nurse. If you leave before you see a doctor then we will just bill your insurance company. If the insurance company decides to pay the bill they will give the hospital around 65% of the total bill and then we just write off the balance. Case #2 the insurance company denies your claim. The hospital comes after you for the entire balance. If they gave you 2 Motrin for pain the hospital will bill you and expect payment. The patient is responsible for the entire bill, but what if you cannot pay? We give you six months of harassing phone calls and then we either send your bill to collections or the attorney general. The lucky ones go to collections. The New York State Attorney General will harass, stalk and threaten till a payment arrangement is made. If that doesn't work they just garnish your wages, put freezes on all of your assets and take your tax return. If you speak with an opponent of the President’s plan the first response to my rant on the high cost of health care is for the uninsured to go out and get a better paying job with better benefits. For anyone that has been unemployed knows doing this can be difficult.
The Exchange:
I honestly did not know the evil “public option” is when I read this. When created a forum for people to shop for what type of coverage is appropriate for them. After reading that, I am stunned at the people that accuse the President of Socialism and Communism. Initially I am stunned that people believe it to be the same thing. When I get over that shock, I am frightened that people think that nationalized health care was socialist. The President is giving Americans a choice. Choice and competition are two fundamental aspects of Capitalism. With competition, comes better service and innovation because the forerunner will have the best product available. I am not a student of Marx or Russian history but I do know that Stalin wouldn’t allow any option. Under Communism, everyone has the exact same coverage and there was no room for criticism. Critics of the Russian government under Stalin were either killed or sent to prison camps in Siberia. If only we could banish critics to frozen barren tundra never to be heard from again (cough, cough Alaska).
The last two points I’m conflicted on. I do not agree on a creating an independent commission of doctors to examine fraud. We have enough government agencies that are largely ineffective and sorry Mr. President I do not agree with you creating another one. The important part to this piece of legislature is to require large companies to provide health insurance for their employees. To the opponents of the President’s plan I ask, “Do you enjoy walking into a Wal-Mart or Target and having everyday household items available to you at low affordable prices?” If there response is yes my next question would be, “Do you value Americans?” The only reason why families such as the Walton’s (who own Wal-Mart) are among America’s wealthiest is because they sell refurbished good at a low cost while exploiting their employees. They are able to provide the middle class American $200 lap tops on Black Friday by paying their employees nothing and providing no benefits. There is value in everyone; the employees of Wal-Mart and Target provide a service that many Americans would chose not to do. For that kind of sacrifice, is it wrong to expect decent coverage if they fall ill?
The bigger problem in this country goes beyond health care. The bigger problem is the rhetoric and this constant abuse of free speech. I can understand being fundamentally against health care reform but instead of working to create a bill that will compromise both sides politicians fight their battles on television. Congressmen and Senators are elected promising to represent and voice the opinions and concerns of the district or state they represent. Michelle Bachmann spends more time on Fox News then she does in Washington D.C doing the job she was elected and paid to do. Of course since she goes on television and preaches the gospel according to Glenn Beck her constituents feel she is doing her job.
While the battle continues, people get sick and die. Whether you support the President’s plan or not be informed on what he is trying to do. Read what he plans for himself and do not listen to the people who are seeking political gain, because you never know when the Attorney General will call for payment.
