Healthcare

Healthcare For ALL

  Healthcare for ALL American citizens is desperately needed and deserved! There are good and bad points of government healthcare in other countries but mostly good. Let’s use the good points and fix the bad so that we can have the best system in the world. If we do this right we will be the envy of the world.

 Objections / Solutions / Truths:

 Who decides what care is given:

 The Physician!!! 

A panel of physicians can be set up to review the care that the personal physician decides is needed. Whatever care the personal physician decides is needed should be given without delay until the review is complete. If there are questions about the care given, then the physician can be given the chance to explain why that care is being given to the patient. NO course of care should be cancelled until after a full review is made of the situation and all objections have been addressed. There should also be an easy to access appeal process for the patients and NO course of care should be cancelled until all appeals have been heard.

 Doctor Assignment:

 Objection: People worry that they will not be able to continue to see their current doctor or that they will not be able to choose their doctor.

Solution: People that ‘purchase’ government insurance should be able to see their physician of choice. People that get free or subsidized government insurance should be able to choose from a list of approved physicians, the same as Most people have to do now with private insurance. Also, if someone switches from private to government insurance, they should be able to keep their current physician, not forced to switch.

 Specialist Care:

 Objection: Waiting too long to see a specialist after a referral from their primary physician is one of the biggest objections I hear about healthcare in Canada and England (the most pointed to systems). From what I understand, sometimes people do have to wait too long for approval to see a specialist about their healthcare.

Solution: Do not make people wait for approval! If that issue can be addressed appropriately then that will be one of the biggest objections overcame.

 I believe that a provision letting the primary care physician decide when someone can see a specialist and allowing immediate appointments with the specialist is needed. If it is later found that the specialist’s care is not truly needed, then After that is decided the care can be cancelled to prevent waist. *(It is Very important to have fast care when the primary care physician decides it is needed.) Do not make people wait for approval!

 Taxes:

 Objection: People are worried about paying more taxes, especially in this economy.

Solution: Do Not tell people that taxes will not go up, Nobody believes that! Instead, point out that taxes Will go up, but that the end cost to the average consumer will remain the same. (The cost of private insurance  vs. cost of government insurance and higher taxes should wash out for all but the wealthiest of Americans.) Also, make it a designated, progressive tax that will go specifically to healthcare similar to the Social Security Tax and base it on income level. The wealthiest should have to pay there fair share in taxes specifically earmarked for healthcare with No Loopholes! *(Most people don’t believe that the wealthy pay their fair share now and that they have Far too many loopholes.) For the poor and/or uninsured, they should be able to get healthcare with Minimal or No increase to their current taxes depending on their income level. Tax credits should be given to those who ‘purchase’ government insurance without any subsidies depending on their income level. People that still purchase private insurance should also be given tax credits depending on their income level. *(Eliminate Tax Loopholes!)

 The Cost to Companies:

 Objection: People are worried that small businesses will be too highly taxed for government insurance.

Solution: Companies should have to pay progressive taxes specifically earmarked for healthcare according to their annual profits. Companies under a certain size should pay minimal healthcare taxes and larger companies should be required to pay their fair share ‘Without Loopholes’. If a company does not want to have private insurance for their employees, then they can use those savings to give higher salaries to their employees to offset the increase in taxes and/or the cost of individual government insurance. *(I believe it will be more than enough to cover the increased costs equaling a profit for most individuals.) The companies that do want private insurance for their employees would be able to purchase full private insurance or “Extra Care” insurance packages, (insurance companies will certainly offer that type of package), that will cover ‘perks’ that government insurance would not cover. The cost of that insurance should be Far cheaper than current insurance because insurance companies could no longer afford the exorbitant profits they currently get. The companies that still want to purchase a full private insurance policy for employees should also be given tax credits for doing so.

 Elimination of Private Insurance:

 Objection: Government backed insurance will kill the private insurance industry. *(FALSE)

Truth: Private insurance will always be available. As long as insurance companies can make money selling policies they will provide them. But, they Will have to come down on their prices and offer extra benefits that the government would not offer in order to sell policies. *(Who, other than insurance co. supporters, thinks that is a bad thing?)

 Government Waist and Corruption:

 Objection: Government agencies are wasteful and corrupt.

Truth: Of coarse they are, but people are continually fighting hard to eliminate the waste and abuses whenever they are found. Truth is that it is hard to fight against big money interests, but the fight does go on. No system is ‘perfect’ but government healthcare should be a Non-Profit public service system and the insurance company “Profits” is what make our current system so corrupt and expensive. As long as profits are the most important part of a system there will always be people that are denied the care they need because it is not “profitable”, The only way to take the huge, unnecessary profits out of the healthcare system is through government healthcare policies. 

 That does not mean that there will not be abuses and waist, (All government agencies have abuses and waist, just like All companies have abuses and undue profits to top executives), but at least everyone will be able to get the healthcare that ALL Americans deserve, especially people that currently can’t get any healthcare at any price due to pre-existing and on-going health issues. Let’s get healthcare for ALL citizens NOW and then address the waist and abuses whenever and wherever they are found!

 Medicare and Medicaid:

 Objection: Senior citizens on Medicare and those on Medicaid will loose their healthcare. *(FALSE)

Truth: Medicaid and Medicare would not be eliminated, they would actually be improved! The government would be covering those people through the new policies. The agencies that run them now would not be eliminated, they would be ‘modified’ to run the new policies. Sure those agencies currently have some problems, most of which comes from Underfunding, but at least they offer healthcare to many needy Americans and the elderly which insurance companies will NEVER give healthcare to at a reasonable rate because giving healthcare to those people is not “profitable”. The new policies would also address the problem with the cost of medications by eliminating out-of-pocket expenses for medications.

 Healthcare Quality:

 Objection: The quality of healthcare will go down. *(FALSE)

Truth: According to the W.H.O., the US is ranked 37th in the world in healthcare, (based on factors including but not limited to Obesity rates, infant mortality, life expectancy, disease rates, etc… and Yes, including number of people with access to regular healthcare!)  ALL of the top healthcare systems in the world are in countries with government sponsored healthcare! We as Americans deserve a better ranking than 37th and if we can pass some form of government help for healthcare we will be able to improve our ranking.

 Who Should be Covered:

 The “public option” should give people the chance to ‘buy’ insurance from the government and would give people of low income the chance to have their insurance costs subsidized by the government or for free, depending on income level. It would also cover everything, including pre-existing conditions, which the insurance companies will Never do at a Reasonable rate because it is not “Profitable”. Nobody would be ‘forced’ to buy a government policy, it would be an “option”. The rates under the government option would never go up just because you get sick and need it as they do with current insurance policies, and you would not loose coverage if you change or loose your job.

 Abortions:

 Abortions would only be covered in the case of imminent death to the mother!

 Illegal Aliens: 

 The “public option” would NOT be available to illegal aliens. Proof of residency would be required to receive any government policy, paid for or not.

 Sure illegal aliens would still be able to go to the emergency rooms, like they currently do, because emergency rooms should NEVER require proof of residency to receive emergency help. (What if you ended up in the emergency room and had lost your ID and couldn’t prove your legal residency?) Denying emergency services would just be wrong! *But that is an immigration issue, not a healthcare issue, and I believe our immigration laws need Serious reform.

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Tags: Healthcare