May be we're getting somewhere here . . .
-- There's still no talk of breaking the employer/healthcare link. Apparently, the unions have such deep influence on those in the legislature and the executive branch that breaking this link is just not going to happen. Plus, since President Obama made such a point of lambasting McCain's plan to eliminate tax breaks for employer-provided health insurance, I think he'll have problems doing a quick U-turn.
-- None of this addresses health care costs--and some of the "protections" will probably drive them higher.
-- What good is a "protection" that makes health care policies more robust if a person can't get a policy? More employers will stop providing coverage if it gets more expensive (due to the "protections" and the increasing cost of care).
Anyway, with the "public option" becoming less likely, maybe we can move ahead with a national discussion of a private health insurance market where individuals buy their own policies, underwriting is eliminated, and cost control occurs via market forces instead of legislation and government committees. Government vouchers for the needy--just as we do with food and shelter.
These make sense (depending, of course, on the details--what is "exhorbitant," etc), and I don't think he'll have much opposition. Unfortunately:WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama, just days before Congress's August recess, will head to North Carolina and Virginia Wednesday to press his health-care agenda, with a new emphasis on insurance regulation and new details on the changes he is seeking.
. . .
He will lay out eight consumer protections he wants in a health care bill: no discrimination for pre-existing conditions, no "exorbitant" out-of-pocket expenses, no out-of-pocket expenses at all for preventive health care, no dropping coverage in the event of a serious illness, no gender discrimination, no annual or lifetime coverage caps, more coverage for chronically uninsured or underinsured young adults, likely through their parents' plans, and guaranteed insurance renewal.
-- There's still no talk of breaking the employer/healthcare link. Apparently, the unions have such deep influence on those in the legislature and the executive branch that breaking this link is just not going to happen. Plus, since President Obama made such a point of lambasting McCain's plan to eliminate tax breaks for employer-provided health insurance, I think he'll have problems doing a quick U-turn.
-- None of this addresses health care costs--and some of the "protections" will probably drive them higher.
-- What good is a "protection" that makes health care policies more robust if a person can't get a policy? More employers will stop providing coverage if it gets more expensive (due to the "protections" and the increasing cost of care).
Anyway, with the "public option" becoming less likely, maybe we can move ahead with a national discussion of a private health insurance market where individuals buy their own policies, underwriting is eliminated, and cost control occurs via market forces instead of legislation and government committees. Government vouchers for the needy--just as we do with food and shelter.