news-record.com

If health care is a right, why should some people have to pay more for that right than others?

When you have a Health monopoly! You can do what you want! " It's nice to be the Health Care Insurance King"

Doug:

So young women, through their insurance premia, should have to bear all of the costs associated with childbearing? Men shouldn't contribute anything beyond genetic material?

This is based on cost!
Men pay more for life insurance.
Bad drivers pay more for car insurance than, good drivers!
Hagan does not seem to be concerned the 13% increase in premiums under Obama care!
That comes from Obama's bean counters, so you can more than likely double it!
Monopoly? How many companies in NC sell health insurance.
Just for show, my premiums dropped $ 36 per year and I am a year older!

Congress Lacks the Courage to Tell you the Whole Truth

I have been a Medical Administrator since 1973. I have spent my entire career working through and interpreting the various Government and Insurance company policies and plans. Each change was supposed to control costs and make health care affordable to the citizens of our country. I have lived through Medicare, Medicaid, Managed Care, HMO’s, PPO’s, IPA’s, and more recently HRA’s, and HSA’s.

From all of these plans and policies, I have learned is that it is always about the money. The Insurance companies wish to make a profit. The Insurance companies and Government think Hospitals and Doctors make too much money. The Insurance companies think Doctors order too many tests and require the hospital and doctors to obtain pre-authorization for virtually all diagnostic tests and surgery to curtail costs. The threat of Malpractice forces doctors and hospitals to practice defensive medicine and order tests.

Medicare is going broke; Medicaid is an ineffective safety net. There are people in this country with serious illnesses who cannot afford health insurance. There are unethical people defrauding the system and providing care that is substandard. Insurance companies deny coverage based on any excuse they can find, such as their doctor not making a timely call (at the doctor’s expense) to ask “Mother may I” get basic tests and surgery authorized, or shamelessly cancel coverage retroactively if they find someone “forgot” to tell them about their childhood acne. Our healthcare system has some serious flaws and needs to be revised.

I applaud Congress for having the fortitude to tackle this divisive and challenging issue. However I am deeply saddened by their lack of courage when it comes to telling the American public the whole truth, and dealing with the true drivers of health care costs.

Consider this – we were told the House bill would only cost $1.2 trillion. This is true – but what Congress did not say is that they pulled out the much needed long term fix to the physician payment system and voted on it separately. This bill, which passed the House late last week – will cost over $300 billion, making the total healthcare reform costs at least $1.5 trillion.

Or consider this – The Democrats have repeatedly told you that if you like your health insurance plan you do not have to switch to a Public Option. This is true – just not the whole truth. The whole truth is that if a Public Option is implemented and priced lower than current commercial insurance rates, as Congress promises, your employer will drop your coverage and force you on to the Public Option.

I run a mid-size Surgical Practice that employs 136 people. If we were to drop health insurance for our employees and pay the 8% fine required by the House bill (for not providing health insurance to our staff) – our practice would save over $100,000 a year!

The second part of this bill requires every American to purchase health insurance or pay a fine themselves. With the average cost of health insurance now well over $300 per month per person, what would you rather do – pay $3,600 a year for health insurance or pay a 2.5% fine? If you make $50,000 a year, a 2.5% fine would only be $1,250 per year – much better than paying $3,600 a year in health insurance premiums.

Congress has promised us that the Public Option will cost less than commercial insurance. In fact, there are only three ways to make this happen: 1) reduce your benefits 2) increase your co-pays and deductibles, or 3) pay doctors and hospitals less. Considering that Medicare and Medicaid already pay physicians less than cost (50% less) – the logical solution for physicians will be to reduce access even further to Medicare, Medicaid and now Public Option patients – meaning you will have a plan that costs less, but there will not be any physicians willing to see you.

Passing a flawed bill is not a victory. We deserve better from those we have elected to represent us.

True health care reform must address the issues that impact health. Poor diet, smoking, obesity, drug use, lack of exercise and poor prenatal care are big components of the true cost of health care in the United States. Improving quality and reducing cost are not done by making sure everyone has health insurance. They are accomplished by improving the overall health of our population. This issue is not being addressed. Why not? Is it too sensitive politically? Is it now an anathema to expect individuals to be self reliant? Has personal excess replaced hard work as the overriding virtue in this country? On these issues Congress has shown a resounding lack of courage.

The House and Senate bills are both bad bills. I urge everyone to read the 2074 page Senate bill. It goes beyond mandating basic health insurance coverage for all Americans. These bills do not go far enough in some areas and go too far in others. They do not address the root causes of our health care challenge nor do they strengthen our health care system. What they do is create new subsidies for programs that have not been proven to improve healthcare at the same tine that they create an enormous new tax burden on all of us.

There are those whose medical problems and circumstances leave them in dire need. As a compassionate country we cannot ignore these people. There should be a system in place to care for these individuals in an efficient and cost effective manner. At the same time, for most of the population, personal health should be a personal responsibility. Neglect of that responsibility should not create an obligation on others who do act responsibly.

Call your representative and tell him/her that we deserve true and realistic health care reform and the whole truth this time.

Respectfully,

John S. Nosek, MPA, CMPE
Executive Director
Greensboro Orthopaedics
336-545-5000 x1110
jnosek@gsoortho.com

1. Women are charged higher premiums than men across the board not because of mandates (which add only incremental costs and are often mandates for things we all agree on – like 24hrs in the hospital after a delivery), but because they happen to be the half of our society whose members give birth to children.

2. So, yes, I agree women are more expensive to cover than men because they have more health issues associated with having kids.

3. Since having children is the only reason we continue to exist as a species (and have people to take care of us in our old age by the way), I’d say that we should be thanking our mothers, grandmothers, aunts, etc instead of charging them more than men for the same health coverage. By rights we should be giving women a discount, but I’ll settle for parity.

4. So yes, men shouldn’t get a discount on their health coverage just because they don’t bear children. Men and women should pay the same price for the same health coverage – it’s only fair.