tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3831362075230684289.post9088719769202059775..comments2022-04-27T02:28:26.814-04:00Comments on Life in Underserved Medicine: How does the public *really* feel about healthcare reform?RichmondDochttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17928931511086527042noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3831362075230684289.post-75370235330770399552012-01-09T11:04:01.601-05:002012-01-09T11:04:01.601-05:00Thank you, thank you, thank you, for taking time t...Thank you, thank you, thank you, for taking time to write out a very reasonable, logical argument for giving a the PPACA a fair look. I'm new to trying to understand all this...yours was the most sensible, understandable source on the subject I've come across on the net so far!Evenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3831362075230684289.post-5336025966731591792011-12-19T22:44:42.326-05:002011-12-19T22:44:42.326-05:00You're correct in how we came to have employer...You're correct in how we came to have employer-provided health insurance: it's an artifact of the needs of World War 2 employment. <br /><br />However, it never formally became a mandate. There are currently plenty of employers that choose not to offer health insurance...and many large employers cover employees very poorly, with Wal-Mart being a prime example. <br /><br />The major issues I see with your suggestion to make insurance an individually-purchased product are:<br /><br />--the cost would be ridiculous, barring major government price controls. This has been the case in the individual insirance market up up until enactment of the PPACA. <br /><br />--with ever-increasing health care costs, private individual plans will become expensive to the point that they would be unaffordable for nearly all of us. Companies can negotiate on behalf of a larger pool of people, sharing the risk and lowering costs. However, as you suggest, this results employers paying a large portion of the premiums. <br /><br />--I disagree that as individuals purchase insurance for themselves they will have enough to help others. Ask free clinics how well-funded they are. The answer is probably, "Barely.". If the non-profit, non-government safety net is barely funded in a system where many of the costs are hidden feo the individual, how can we expect it to be funded if we're all paying for all of our insurance?<br /><br />I would have loved the law to have enacted deeper and more fundamental reform, but politically it wasn't in the cards. This is a critical first start, and we need to protect what we have even as we work to improve it.RichmondDochttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17928931511086527042noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3831362075230684289.post-40618213926947982011-12-19T18:49:07.223-05:002011-12-19T18:49:07.223-05:00My question about healthcare payment reform - and ...My question about healthcare payment reform - and healthcare full-stop - is this: why is healthcare insurance tied to employment?<br /><br />I know why, actually. It all started in WWII as a short-term fix for stiff wage controls. Then it became a mandate. Which now, four generations later, has led to our "I wanna use other people's money" view of paying for healthcare.<br /><br />If patients actually were encouraged to be customers of the healthcare system, rather than the passive-consumer meat puppets currently in vogue, much positive change would occur.<br /><br />If we were allowed to buy health insurance the way we buy any other kind of insurance, and all citizens started out in a group - the group of all-of-us - that would let employers turn insurance benefits into true benefits, rather than what essentially amounts to a penalty for having employees.<br /><br />I don't think the law went far enough. I think all people have the right to healthcare access. I think most of us would be happy to buy our own insurance - like we do for cars/houses/whatever - and throw some chedda in the kitty to make sure there was a safety net for people who need help.MightyCaseyMediahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15676994193165585448noreply@blogger.com