Day: March 19, 2010

I Have A Health Care Plan

This is a re-post of one of my previous posts on Info Ink….this one is from April 2007…..

An Alternative Healthcare Proposal

For years, the most pressing problem that the US faces is that of adequate healthcare for all the American people. Leaders have toyed with the problem, the people have wanted more, presidents have given it tons of lip service, but yet no one has an idea that will work. It either would cost too much money or it would not be politically advantageous or……..and the beat goes on. To date there is still no adequate healthcare or a workable plan. My question is–how long will they debate and promise and ……?

I have had a thought on one possible path they could be taken to help the American people with adequate healthcare. And the really good part of it, it will not add much cost to the system that would needed to be funded by more taxes.

But I start I want to make it clear that this plan is for doctors and visists it will not encompass hospitalization of any kind. The easy part would be the doctor’s end of the equation, the hospital part will take a massive plan to fix it. This then is just a small part of the problem, but could be fixed with little increase to the American people.

This is a plan that I sent to my Congressman several years ago and his reply had nothing to do with what I had outlined. In other words, the pig did not read it and some low level gopher sent me a reply to my proposal. Needless to say, I have little use for my congressman, who by the way is still on my dime in Washington.

First let us start with seemingly unrelated problems; the healthcare of the American people and those who default on their student loans. Is there a connection? Well, yeah! One of the worst abusers of non-payment of student loans are those in the medical field; doctors to be more exact.

There have been many plans over the years to try an get the money out of these abusers, but most were a dismal failure. One such plan, the doctor would go where the US needed him/her and work until the loan was paid down. Not bad, but unfortunately, there were always loopholes that allowed the people to escape from this plan.

My proposal is simple, the doctor opens a clinic in Willacuchi, Ga and begins seeing patients. He would then choose a day a week that the poor would be treated. The amount of the visit, supplies and medication that he used that day would be deducted from his loan balance and this would be continued until the entire loan was paid off. NO ESCAPE CLAUSES!

The doctor, no matter what city or town, would not have to give up their private practice or their goals of riches accumulation. The Dept. of Health and Human Services would monitor the transactions, to keep them honest.

This proposal will not eliminate the need for more sweeping changes in the healthcare of Americans, but it would be a start at helping those who cannot afford to visit the doctor on regular basis. Those people who do not have insurance or money enough for doctors appointments. I realize that this is simplistic and if the government gets involved it might become a nightmare, but it is a start

It would not take DHHS long to come up with a satisfactory method of determining who is in need and who is scamming. This would not be that difficult and I say why not give it a try?  Plus it would not grow the size of the bureaucracy; it is already in place.  The only cost to the government would be to vote it in and then get the word out…there are agencies in every state that could handle that……

CHUQ

31/03/07

Obama’s Health Reform (A Continuing Saga)

Stop your grinning!  Here it comes!  The VOTE that will be heard around the country!

Like a song that will NOT end….the health reform debate has gone on and on and on and……..it is the time of a maximum of lying on both sides trying to influence a vote here and a vote there……

They say, whoever they are, that the passage of the health reform bill is close, very close…..The Repubs are still defying proper conduct in the Senate and as well as in the House…….Washington!  The town misinformation built……But if you are interested in the newest version of the reform bill then I have what you need….

The AP did a great job putting together the facts, just the facts, they felt the bullsh*t and misinformation behind…..

IMMEDIATE CHANGES:  Uninsured people with medical problems will have a workable alternative. The bill pumps $5 billion into high-risk insurance pools run by the states to provide coverage to those in frail health. Taxpayer-backed insurance won’t be free, but premiums should be much lower than what’s charged by private insurers willing to take those in poor health.

For people with private health insurance — about two-thirds of Americans — there would be some new safeguards. For example, insurers would be barred from placing lifetime dollar limits on coverage and from canceling policies except in cases of fraud. Children could stay on their parents’ coverage until age 26.

THE SELF-EMPLOYED:  Starting in 2014, self-employed people and those whose employers don’t offer coverage would be able to pick a plan through a health insurance exchange, like a supermarket. It’s modeled on the federal employee health program available to members of Congress, which offers a range of private insurance. Small businesses could also join the exchange.

More than 30 million people would buy their own coverage through state exchanges, and nearly 6 in 10 would be eligible for tax credits to help pay premiums. The aid would be generous for lower-income families, less so for those solidly in the middle class.

SENIORS:  Seniors have been understandably worried about the health care plan, since much of it is financed with Medicare cuts the government’s own experts say could be unsustainable.

On the block are subsidies to private Medicare Advantage insurance plans, which now enroll about one-quarter of seniors. The government overpays the plans when compared to the cost of care under traditional Medicare. That largesse translates to lower out-of-pocket costs for seniors in the plans, and the bill could trigger an exodus from Medicare Advantage as insurers are forced to raise their rates to stay in business.

But seniors stand to gain as well. Obama would gradually close the coverage gap in the middle of the Medicare prescription drug benefit. The so-called doughnut hole would start to shrink immediately, but it wouldn’t be fully closed until 2020. In the meantime, seniors in the gap would get a 50 percent discount on brand name drugs.

The plan also improves preventive benefits for seniors in traditional Medicare.

DOCTORS:  Primary care doctors and general surgeons practicing in underserved areas such as inner cities and rural communities would get a 10 percent bonus from Medicare. But the more significant changes for doctors would unfold slowly. The goal is to start rewarding doctors for keeping patients healthy, not just treating them when they get sick.

The plan would use Medicare as a testing ground for new ways of coordinating care for patients with multiple chronic illnesses such as high blood pressure, diabetes and heart problems, a common combination. Primary care doctors would become care managers for such patients, keeping close tabs on medications and basic health indicators.

EMPLOYERS:  Obama’s plan wouldn’t require employers to provide insurance to their workers, but it would hit them with a stiff fine if even one of their workers gets a federally subsidized coverage. Companies with 50 or fewer workers would be exempt, and those with 25 workers or fewer could get federal assistance.

INSURANCE COMPANIES:  Health insurance companies would face unprecedented federal regulation and particularly close scrutiny of their bottom line. A fixed percentage of income from premiums would have to go to medical care, otherwise insurers would be forced to provide rebates to consumers. That share is 85 percent for large group plans, and 80 percent for plans in the small group and individual markets.

There you have the facts…..like them or not……personally, I think it is a cop out from the Progressive stance held during the campaign……Rep. Kucinich is dead set against Obama’s bill…..he is a lone voice for 300 million Americans and NO one is listening….it is NOT reform it is a tweak that will be challenged at the next change in Congress and all will be for naught and then we can start all over again….You asked for it…You got it!

UPDATE:  Kucinich was come around and will now vote yes on the bill……CBO report is in and the bill will cut budget by $394 billion in the 1st 10 yrs and $1.3 trillion in the next 10….