Healthcare "Reform"

If you read nothing else in this posting, please read and heed the last paragraph.

Our local daily newspaper has been printing regular letters to the editor, touting the need for a government healthcare option or immediate healthcare reform. These writers say we have got to get control over the glutenous insurance companies.

Here's the problem with the current healthcare system; it relies too much on insurance. Think about the following scenario (PLEASE FOLLOW THIS THROUGH); patient goes to doctor when too sick to remedy with an over-the-counter medicine. The doc visits with the patient for five minutes, writes a prescription and sends the patient on their way. Patient pays the $20 copay (usually before even being seen) and goes off to the pharmacy. When the patient sees the "explanation of benefits" he sees the following; doctor's office charged $115, insurance allowed $85, patient paid $20 copay so the insurance covered the remaining $65. Sounds okay until you remember the patient is paying $200+ per month for his insurance premium. So the patient is paying $2,400 per year, employer is paying (at least) another $2,400 per year for health insurance. $4,800 per year for single coverage health insurance and the patient maybe goes to the doc 2-4 times per year.

Now, let's say we started buying health insurance like we do car insurance; only for the unusual or unexpected expenses that would cause us unusual financial hardship. Now the doctor's offices would have to charge "market rates" or fees that patients can afford out of pocket. Thus, maybe the doctor visit only costs $35-$50 which sounds like much more than the $20 copay until you realize that now the monthly insurance premium might be more like $75-$100 because it is only covering major medical expenses. In this example the patient is paying half the annual premium, thus saving $1,200 per year. Even if he goes to the doc 4 times during the year, at $50 per visit, he is still saving over $1,000 per year. The employer is also saving on the premium, allowing them to invest that money in development/growth of the company.

I submit to you that anyone demanding a "government option" health insurance to lower the cost of insurance has never fully understood the disastrous homeowner's insurance situation in Florida. Basically, the state got into the insurance business to be the insurer of last resort. But the state required the private insurers to keep rates artificially low. Ultimately all but one of the major private insurance companies left the state. Thank you politicians!

There is not one federal government program that has proven to be at least as efficient or beneficial as promised. We are supposed to be The United States of America, not the Federally Dictated States of America. Think about what that means.

Educated people have said to me they don't voice their opinion because they think it doesn't matter. Thank God the founding fathers of our country (and all the militia men) didn't think this way!