Okay, it's time for a new post before we are out of June. I have been meaning to write more on the health care issue, though I would also like to say something before long about climate change. There are some interesting things brewing on that front. And before I get into the health care thing, what about Michael Jackson? We watched Nightly News the day he died, and all but about THREE MINUTES of air time on the show was dedicated to him. Goodness, the guy was pretty much a weirdo, and of course it's sad that he (and Farrah Fawcett) died that day, but I really don't get the non-stop coverage.
But, to the issue at hand. I have read article upon article about the health care issue over the past few weeks, after having read many things over the past few years. Yes, our system is pretty out of whack right now, what with insurance premium prices seeming to go up every month. I remember when my oldest son was around 2 years old and the employees' share of insurance went up to $98 a month. I thought that was outrageous (son is 24 now for reference purposes). This was for a family of three at the time (and of course the company picked up a portion of it as well). Now, with individual insurance and a
huge deductible, we pay around 8 times that amount for three people. Sheesh. So, yes, it's pretty much out of control, and no wonder there are calls for government to "do something about it!" That is pretty much par for the course with just about anything these days.
But the question is, is government the best place to turn? I know I sound like a broken record, but who (or what) got us into this mess in the first place? You know I'm going to blame the government and its incessant meddling. I recall back in the seventies when I worked at a small printing firm, and the whole HMO thing was just being trotted out and promoted by Ted Kennedy. Companies of a certain size (ours included) were required to offer an HMO option to their employees. What happened decades later, though? HMOs were on the outs even with Ted Kennedy! And who but a few of us who had anything to do with that stuff back then (I handled the insurance claims for the company) remembered that Teddy was such a champion of HMOs back then and subsequently complained about them?
And then there's the employee-paid insurance. This arose out of a Roosevelt-era tax increase on incomes. Companies got the bright idea to pay for their employees' health insurance instead of giving them raises that would be taxed at very high rates. So, not only did the employees benefit, but the companies got tax write-offs for expenses as well. Now everyone expects companies to pay for health insurance and many other benefits, and I believe that Obama's health plan would require companies (probably of a certain size) to provide it or pay a penalty. Some free country and free market we have, huh? Anyway, back to employer paid insurance premiums. This tended to have the effect of removing the customer (or patient) from the process of searching for the best deals, as it were, in health care. Who cared if some test cost twice as much at one hospital? I'm not paying for it, the insurance company is! And so on. If everyone had to pay for his own health care needs, you can bet those who had to watch their nickles and dimes would do a bit of comparison shopping. I have called around for prices on prescription drugs and found a huge disparity in prices within a 10-mile radius.
For a great example of how health care costs can be reigned in, read
this article about Safeway and how they have chosen to handle insurance for their employees. Notice, please, how Mr. Burd says Safeway is prevented (by whom? the government, of course) from offering more incentives than they currently do. Gee, what a surprise.
Another problem stems from state (and some federal) mandates for health insurance. Mandates are those things that insurance providers are compelled to offer or cover to their clients. So, for example, in the state of California, where I live, in-vitro fertilization is a mandate. Now, neither I nor my husband plan to use this procedure, but our insurance rates are affected by it. Why could we not have a policy that did not include this? By the way, see
here for a state-by-state analysis of mandates for health insurance and see how your state stacks up. And then
here is an article written in 2005 that addresses how much mandates can affect the cost of basic insurance premiums in different states.
Another factor, and some people may or may not consider this problematic, is the high cost of some medical practices that are the really dramatic life-saving kind of things that were not available, say, even 25 or 30 years ago. You know, people would have died back then, but now maybe could be miraculously saved. If everyone has access to these expensive life-saving techniques through their insurance, then of course it's going to be more expensive than if the insurance did not cover it. So, if you and your family never need to use these procedures, you are effectively paying for the few who do.
Finally (though of course there are more factors to consider) we have at least eight states that impose "guaranteed-issue" requirements on insurance companies in those states. This means that insurance providers must provide insurance to anyone who applies, regardless of their pre-existing conditions, their lifestyles, or whatever. It should not be difficult to see why this would drive prices up.
This article cited above also addresses this issue.
Now, with that background, here are some recent articles to read:
Americans Will Regret Health Care "Fix"The Forbidding Arithmetic of Health Care ReformUnion's Health Benefits May Avoid Tax Health Care Faces the "R" WordHow ObamaCare Threatens Your Health PlanObamacare Not As Easy as ABC All of these articles are interesting and important to read, but pay particular attention to this one, and in particular, this portion:
"People hate health insurance companies but what is insufficiently understood is that these companies are so burdened by government mandates that it has become increasingly difficult to function as efficient businesses."Obama's Health FutureGovernment Health Plans Always Ration Care
ObamaCare Isn't Inevitable (thankfully!)
Not In My Health PlanMind you, this is a very small sampling of the articles out there. Do a bit of searching, especially into the history of how we got where we are, and what would
really happen if we get this "public option."
Next, I'll try to chronicle some of the interesting things going on in the world of "climate change."
Since June recently ended, I thought I would update my progress on the reading challenge front. Now, I happen to be the only participant in this challenge, for an interesting reason that I isn't worth going in to. In any case, I had originally decided to only list four books for the entire summer, simply because my reading in the last year has been pretty slight. Consequently, I wanted to err on the side of too few, rather than too many choices. I am happy to report, however, that I finished four books just in June alone, and am hoping to do at least that each month. I mentioned previously that I read when I am at 24-Hour Fitness, and that is working out very well. My only problem with it is that I cannot mark the margins, or put those cute little sticky notes in it to mark important places, but, I'd rather be reading than not, so this will have to suffice.
I haven't posted a challenge since last summer, and I didn't do very well on that one. So, since my reading of late has been pretty sparse, I'm going to list only around 4 books for the entire summer, and then have a couple in reserve in case I actually finish all of those. If anyone else would like to join, be my guest! I'm going to try to carve out more time for reading, and I've found some already. I exercise on an elliptical machine 6 days a week at 24-hour Fitness, and I've found that those (soon-to-be) 40 minutes seem to go much faster when I read. So, a win-win situation!
(currently reading)
(a Robert recommendation)
by Shusaku Endo
