There are many things about Barack Obama that I don’t like, but his health care plan is worth a second look. I have read many articles and heard many claims that Obama is pushing a single payer, universal, socialized medicine health care plan like Canada and many countries in Europe. Hillary Clinton tried it with Hillary Care; failed miserably; and pushed both houses of Congress into Republican control. Americans didn’t want a forced government system then, and they don’t want now. Both candidates for President have learned the lesson.
I am 58 years old, and because I have colitis and have taken anti-depressants over the years, I am uninsurable. My wife continues to work because she carries the benefits. If she were to retire, she is insured through STRS, and I am able to buy health insurance through the system for myself…but there is no guaranty it will be there until I am 65, and it is very expensive. There is no state mandate requiring STRS to provide health care for anybody, including the retirees. It has been trying to years to eliminate, or at least curtail, the amount of health care insurance that is available to the families of retirees.
I have heard the 45 million uninsured Americans hype by the Dems for years, and for the most part, it is a crock. Included in the figure are illegal immigrants, those between jobs, with the a large portion of the uninsured being those who choose not to carry insurance because they feel they don’t need it. Those are mostly 20 somethings who are feeling invincible.
On the other hand, health care is a national issue, and it is based on private insurers spreading the risk over a pool of insureds. If those young people don’t pay for insurance, the risk can’t be spread among the population in a meaningful manner that would help health insurance be affordable.
Then there are those who are deemed to be uninsurable. The obvious case is a person with cancer or aids…but the insurance companies cast a wide net looking for things to keep from selling you insurance, including issues of smoking, weight (too heavy or too thin), colitis, depression…ad infinitum. Pretty much everyone over the age of 50 will be denied insurance, pre-existing condition exceptions not even an option. No Insurance!!!
Some of the states have tried to alleviate the problem with state sponsored health care plans. Ohio is not one of them, but does require those selling insurance to have open enrollment periods each year in which they sell a very expensive, barely basic policy to those who are otherwise would not be able to buy insurance. You have to look for the time period. It is not advertised in a meaningful fashion, and it is a different time period for each insurance company.
Obama’s plan addresses those issues without forcing a single payer system down the country’s throat. The goal is to widen the choices that are available to Americans who need health insurance. Private insurance through employers will still be available. The government would expand the health care policy currently available to Federal employees if someone wanted to buy in. The government would provide a clearinghouse for private insurance. The issue of non-insurability would go away.
Of course, the devil is in the details. Hillary would require EVERYONE to be insured under a similar system. Obama does not, which tightens the risk pool. And because Obama is the leftist’s leftist, I don’t trust him to be able to resist a single payer system as in Canada or Great Britain, which would be disastrous. Even the Canadian Supreme Court has just ruled that Canada has to provide for private pay insurance if the wait for a procedure is so long as to effectively deny the individual of treatment or choice of treatment. On the other hand, McCain sole reliance on private insurers doesn’t work, or the health care issues would be fixed by now.
As a McCain supporter, I hope that he would give Obama’s plan some serious scrutiny. Is the health care issue enough to make me vote for Obama? No. But if he loses, I hope that he puts forth the effort in Congress to pass a health care plan like he has outlined. We would be the better for it. The only question I have is why the Democratic Congress hasn’t done it already?? Mmmmm?
I am 58 years old, and because I have colitis and have taken anti-depressants over the years, I am uninsurable. My wife continues to work because she carries the benefits. If she were to retire, she is insured through STRS, and I am able to buy health insurance through the system for myself…but there is no guaranty it will be there until I am 65, and it is very expensive. There is no state mandate requiring STRS to provide health care for anybody, including the retirees. It has been trying to years to eliminate, or at least curtail, the amount of health care insurance that is available to the families of retirees.
I have heard the 45 million uninsured Americans hype by the Dems for years, and for the most part, it is a crock. Included in the figure are illegal immigrants, those between jobs, with the a large portion of the uninsured being those who choose not to carry insurance because they feel they don’t need it. Those are mostly 20 somethings who are feeling invincible.
On the other hand, health care is a national issue, and it is based on private insurers spreading the risk over a pool of insureds. If those young people don’t pay for insurance, the risk can’t be spread among the population in a meaningful manner that would help health insurance be affordable.
Then there are those who are deemed to be uninsurable. The obvious case is a person with cancer or aids…but the insurance companies cast a wide net looking for things to keep from selling you insurance, including issues of smoking, weight (too heavy or too thin), colitis, depression…ad infinitum. Pretty much everyone over the age of 50 will be denied insurance, pre-existing condition exceptions not even an option. No Insurance!!!
Some of the states have tried to alleviate the problem with state sponsored health care plans. Ohio is not one of them, but does require those selling insurance to have open enrollment periods each year in which they sell a very expensive, barely basic policy to those who are otherwise would not be able to buy insurance. You have to look for the time period. It is not advertised in a meaningful fashion, and it is a different time period for each insurance company.
Obama’s plan addresses those issues without forcing a single payer system down the country’s throat. The goal is to widen the choices that are available to Americans who need health insurance. Private insurance through employers will still be available. The government would expand the health care policy currently available to Federal employees if someone wanted to buy in. The government would provide a clearinghouse for private insurance. The issue of non-insurability would go away.
Of course, the devil is in the details. Hillary would require EVERYONE to be insured under a similar system. Obama does not, which tightens the risk pool. And because Obama is the leftist’s leftist, I don’t trust him to be able to resist a single payer system as in Canada or Great Britain, which would be disastrous. Even the Canadian Supreme Court has just ruled that Canada has to provide for private pay insurance if the wait for a procedure is so long as to effectively deny the individual of treatment or choice of treatment. On the other hand, McCain sole reliance on private insurers doesn’t work, or the health care issues would be fixed by now.
As a McCain supporter, I hope that he would give Obama’s plan some serious scrutiny. Is the health care issue enough to make me vote for Obama? No. But if he loses, I hope that he puts forth the effort in Congress to pass a health care plan like he has outlined. We would be the better for it. The only question I have is why the Democratic Congress hasn’t done it already?? Mmmmm?
No comments:
Post a Comment