Now, I know that some will say they cost too much and leave it there, so let’s just agree to disagree on that, since I’m firmly convinced that doing nothing will cost us all more.
To avoid being told that I’m lazy and want handouts, let me make it explicit that I am a retired teacher currently caring for loved ones. I might also point out that I worked hard all my life, own my home, have little in the way of debt, and qualify for absolutely no means-tested government programs. I would be among those taxed for the proposed program. Now that we can dispense with some of the name calling, let me ask the actual question:
What exactly is wrong with having federal regulations of health insurance rather than 50 different sets of state regulations? It’s regulated in either case, but federal regulations will simplify applications and make coverage more portable from state to state. If the insurance companies all get their applicants from a common nation-wide pool and we have access to applying for those policies regardless of where we live, won’t it increase competition, and also increase the choices available to the vast majority of us? If not, please explain exactly why not.
Another proposal I don’t see as harmful is the elimination of rescission. After I assume I’ve done my due diligence and protected myself and my family by buying health insurance, why should the company have the right to come back when I get ill and say, “Oops, my bad. We shouldn’t have accepted you 9 years ago….You are now officially not on our insurance any more.”
I would also like to know what is wrong with eliminating exclusions for preexisting conditions. I know that doing so would likely decrease the profitability of the policies, but isn’t the point of insurance to INSURE people, not just to generate profits for the company?
Can you tell me why this is actually a bad thing?
I should have copied your handle before I started typing – the guy who said “there is a difference between reform and government take over.” Okay…I agree that there is a difference. However, the government already took over Medicare and Medicaid. Medicare is a single payer system, and seems to work pretty effectively. Old people have the option of opting out of Medicare and using private funds to pay for their own health care if they want to. As far as I can see, few actually do, and many will hide assets so that they don’t have to.
Odd, Chebrew – the people from England I’ve met are puzzled by the hysteria, since in England they do everything possible to “do right by the people” when it comes to health care. Individual clinics may have problems, but we have similar issues right here in the US. Did you see the video of the woman who was sitting in the chairs of an emergency room and PASSED OUT AND FELL OUT OF THE CHAIR? People passed her…medical personnel stepped over or around her. She died on the floor in an emergency room after waiting for hours to be seen. We have problems NOW.
FLBeach – your freedoms are limited all the time, and not just by the government. WHAT specific freedom do you think is being trampled? None of the things I want to see in the final reform bill are addressed in your answer.
There is not DEATH PANEL. Sheesh. No government buearacrat is going to determine your health care. Insurance companies do that NOW…my cousin will probably die from stage 4 cancer because her insurance decided not to pay for the MRI she needed to confirm the diagnosis until it went from stage 2 (more likely curable) to 4 (Almost certainly fatal.) Is that “tweaking” the system?
Water over Gold, the tenth amendment says “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.” That means that laws can be passed by the people to do pretty much what-ever needs to be done. Many many things are regulated on a national level rather than a state level. Can you imagine state regulation of banks or of monetary systems? It was that way once, but no longer. Interstate commerce is regulated at a federal level. Purchase of insurance across state lines would simply be interstate commerce. Where did you get the idea that it required an amendment?
I think that might get into an argument over the Tenth Amendment.
In order to regulate all 50 states, the Tenth Amendment says you need an amendment to the Constitution.
EDIT:
“Can you imagine state regulation of banks or of monetary systems? It was that way once, but no longer. Interstate commerce is regulated at a federal level.”
Can you imagine a banking cartel (Federal Reserve) with the ability to print paper at will and loan it to the U.S. govt…..to be paid back with interest?? Can you say fraud??
Also, interstate commerce is a wee bit unclear on a few things.
You are so right, but you can’t convince a a a rock of that. it’s like talking to a rock in trying to convince some people of that.
There really isn’t anything wrong with most of what YOU are saying.
The issue is.. What they are proposing will affect me. See I don’t want it to.
I want to be free to do what I want with my health care. That’s not what they are advocating. I can “keep what I have” is very different then “I can pick what I want after this is enacted”.. Because what it looks like they are doing.. Is taking steps to get into a single payer system.
This makes sense because numerous democrats have come out and said that they want a single payer.. but the best way to go about it is making a public option first. I’m to lazy to look up the quotes for the 9 millionth time but if you insist I will.. They are available if you are that interested. But chances are you don’t want to here that and won’t care if I post them or not.
See I don’t want the feds in my business.. If you do.. FINE! I don’t care. But what they want is to be up in everyone’s crap.
If the current administration can get something done without screwing people.. then more power to them. But I think they are leftist ideologues who want power.
There is reform.. and there is government take over.. I’d be happy with the reform part.. Just not the government.
*Edit*
Yea I know medicare is a single payer system. And it doesn’t “work all that well”. First it’s a bankrupt program. Second it’s part of the reason we pay so much on the private side. Medicare reimburses lower then conventional insurance. The government basically price fixes (which is illegal in private industry). That’s what they are going to do again.. That’s how they are going to “reduce costs”. I only say that because that’s how they always do it.
And I don’t care if people on medicare can be on medicare or be on a private plan.. I don’t care. The proposals in washington are going to fundamentally change health care for everyone.. That’s what they want. I don’t want my health care to change. I am not incompetent. I can take care of my own health care given the current system. If they make it cheaper without making it ****… GREAT. But they can’t.
What they want to do is add millions of people to the system.. A system that is based off a particular monetary structure. All the while reducing cost… how?
They are going to do it the same way everyone else does it. They are going to ration. I know.. I know.. “it’s rationed now because of insurance”.. It’s not rationed for me. They are going to make my situation worse.. to make someone elses better.. and they are doing it to millions of people.. you know.. the rest of the country with insurance. How do I know this? Because they do it everywhere else!!! They do it in Mass. Oregon, Canada, Britain.. I know they do it because I read BBC articals on it daily. I know.. I know.. most people in Britain are happy with the NHS. I don’t care.. most pigs are happy playing in ****.. I don’t want to play in ****.
Now this brings me to my final point. If you wann play in ****.. FINE. It’s a free country. I don’t want to.. I don’t want you and your **** anywhere near me. Get it?
Get it done without craping in my yard and I won’t care.
I am against anything that is going to limit my freedoms.
Insurance companies will soon be out of business if they have to compete with the federal gov’t's insurance plan. Over time there will be no private insurance companies except for the one that covers all the idiots in Congress and the President. Therefore no competition. Without competition the gov’t will have no incentive to do anything right by the people it insures. Your health will be decided by gov’t bureaucrats instead of your doctor. This bill will also tell doctors how much they are to be paid and how many patients they see. And if they do make a mistake no only will they NOT apologize, you will have no legal recourse because there’s a clause in there that says you can’t sue the gov’t! There are many insurance companies that will not accept you if you have a preexisting condition now. That’s something that should be eliminated. There are just so many bad things in Obama’s bill the way it is now that Americans won’t stand a chance. Sure our health care system needs tweaking but this bill would destroy the best health care system in the world.