In a message dated 06/28/03 9:24:57 AM Central Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
I found that I had to go through a maze of rules to walk into a doctor's office or avail of a health service.
<<<<< I too have found that as a health care consumer. But its not that I think our current system is good or that it is a good example of the free market at work. Its not only that I don't want Medicare and Medicaid to morph into Canadian style health care, its that the whole US system is already broken. The health care consumer has little incentive to adopt a healthy lifestyle to save on medical costs. The health care consumer has no incentive to shop around, since the costs are almost always paid by a third party, whether government or a for profit insurance. I am not advocating that the current US system is superior to Canada. I am saying I want a new system in the US, one where consumers buy healthcare like we buy cars and groceries. My vision is for a system with no third party payers for any expenses under say 10K per family per year. Something like the medical savings account concept, not tied to employment. This is a system which allows the consumer to set aside pretax dollars into an account to pay their own health care expenses. ( Sometimes called a health care IRA because any money left in the health care account later can be used for other needs. It is combined with a high deductible insurance policy to pay for really catastrophic illness. This would put the consumer back in the drivers seat. Those hassles, and that maze you mentioned, we don't deal with a hassle or maze like that when we buy a loaf of bread or even a car, do we?>>>>
To give one recent statistic, I forget the source (but perhaps it was "60 Minutes") there are 30 Million people in the U.S. who do not have access to healthcare.
<<< I say hogwash. There may be 10% of the population uninsured, but most of these are young and healthy and intentionally have decided to go bare rather than pay the high insurance premium. Furthermore, I live in the ninth poorest county in the USA, one journalists like to compare to the third world, and I don't meet anyone who cannot get health care. All US hospitals are required to treat emergencies. Also, actual cash can still work in the health care system. My husband and I have been raising 4 kids for the last 15 years with insurance that has a $3000 per person or $10,000 per family deductible. Guess what ? Our kids have had the usual assortment of broken bones, colds, flus, tubes in the ears, two (one night) hospital stays, and we have used our insurance once. We have (gasp) paid for all those doctor, lab, drugstore, and hospital bills. And now we are starting braces on 2 of our kids. >>>>
Sorry if I am ranting. This topic is close to my heart. It rarely crosses over with the OT topics, and I know most OTs seem to be Democrats so I usually don't get off on these topics. -- Jody
