RE: [Winona] Is it time for the discussion? Polygamy

[terri hyle]

[Winona Online Democracy]

Tom, and everybody:

ALL of us need regular office visits with our physicians.  Hopefully, these 
will just be well-care visits, but regular check ups are an extremely 
important part of catching and treating any health problems while they are 
still small and very treatable--or preventable.

I believe in universal health care coverage, but to tell the absolute truth, 
I haven't seen a plan that I really like.  In Europe, health care is 
universal and free, but also rationed--not what I want for myself or my 
loved ones. Based on my dealings with Medicare on behalf of my mother, I 
certainly do NOT want this model for any of us, including our seniors.   And 
I understand employers' frustration about the difficulty and expense in 
providing good health care benefits to employees.  However, I know more than 
a few people who are in their present positions precisely because they need 
and want the health care benefits provided by their employers.  And should 
employers pull out of health care altogether, leaving health care coverage 
to individuals, the following would happen (based, actually, on what really 
happens now):

1.  Insurance companies would have even greater power since there would no 
longer be blocks of employers/employees (and customers) acting together to 
get the best deal possible.  We'd all be on our own.  It's not like the 
insurance industry is well regulated now.

2.  People who felt they could go without health insurance or who only 
wanted/could afford to pay for catestrophic coverage would then do what the 
uninsured/underinsured do now:  go without, run up medical bills and either 
ruin their credit ratings trying to pay for them or simply not pay, meaning 
that the medical provider would eat the cost to a certain extent, but that 
the rest of us would get to help pay for those bills (including collection 
costs and lawyer/court fees)  in the form of higher medical costs.  We'd all 
lose.

3.  OR People would simply avoid going to the doctor except for the very 
most serious illnesses, which would be harder to treat, requiring a more 
extensive (and expensive) course of treatment.  Not only would the patient 
lose, but so would we all with the loss of productivity of our workforce  as 
workers are forced to stay home longer to recuperate or care for sick loved 
ones AND/OR see No. 2.  And of course, in general, well care (immunizations, 
important screenings for cancer, diabetes, high blood pressure, heart 
conditions, etc.)  would become more expensive as economies of scale would 
be lost as fewer people

I really wish I had good solutions, instead of pointing out flaws.

Terri Hyle

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