In our state, the only auto insurance you are required to carry is liability at a certain amount. You are not forced to buy auto insurance unless you have a car, so you really have choice in the matter. If you have a car, you have a responsibility to protect others around in because a car can cause significant damage to others.
The bill. I am on spring break from classes, so of course I spend my spring break reading this health care bill, ha. This bill is like someone sat down, decided we were in a Utopian world that has no money restrictions, and put everything into it. It has a ton of really, really good things to it. It protects people from getting dropped or not getting paid from their insurance, it attempts to regulate care in hospitals and make sure it is good care(I will say why I say attempt in a minute). It attempts to regulate the hospital costs, it addresses wellness in the schools and communities. It overhauls medicare and medicaid, it goes on and on and on.
It does not have death panels, abortion cannot be paid for with federal funds, nor are doctors forced to do abortion.
This bill is major, major change. People are afraid of change.
Sounds great?
My issues are mostly with cost, but also with the federal government trying to control all of this. I also think that people should not be mandated by fines to have health insurance.
I don't believe that there is any way, shape or form that this can lower a deficit. Just getting this thing off the ground is going to cost a bundle. That is if it even can get implemented correctly. It is possible businesses will cut back on people to stay under the level that they will be fined, although there are credits in there to help small business. I know a lot of you have been harmed by insurance companies, but they do employ a lot of people, and insurance companies in all likelihood will fold. And actually, probably the more honest ones that have been good for people will lose, the big guys will probably have enough cash to stay alive, although you bet they will slash jobs to afford this. That may not matter to you, but I see jobs being an issue here.
I think the numbers are skewed, and what they have in place will not pay for the amount of regulation. They are regulating EVERYTHING, which right now with cost running away, could be a good thing, but this all takes money to do, our tax dollars. I also have seen government do a lousy job in regulating something this big, so there attempts are likely to be problematic.
In states and countries that have this type of care, they are financially in trouble. In Massachusetts, the plan has been affective. They have the lowest uninsured rate in the country, at 4.1% by some figures. But, in 4 years, the cost is 3 times what was projected, and they have had to ask for bail out from the federal government. Hawaii tried to put a plan in place for their children, which only lasted 7 months, because many more people than expected jumped on it. This was because there were loopholes, and people who should not have been using it, got on it.
By some studies, Massachusetts is losing business to neighboring state, and they are also having a hard time retaining doctors. The wait times have increased, especially in low income areas, more people served, less doctors. The low income area hospitals are not getting reimbursed from the state like they should, because again, they underestimated the cost of the thing. These hospitals are struggling.
I think they should have gone much smaller. Address the big things that are hurting people, the things you will see roll out in the next 6 months, the things that are very beneficial. Then sit back, re access, determine the next step(driving costs down, which I question this will do, especially taxing medical supplies like they are doing) and how to pay for it more sensibly.
So good luck to all of us, I hope I am wrong about this, and it is all roses and good health care.
