My "FB" friend Miles Winder -- multitalented attorney in Bernardsville, N.J. -- posted a real question on Facebook: What should health care be like in the perfect world?
Unfortunately he only got two answers. The first was a widecrack, the second mine. My imagination doesn't venture far into the future, so I suggested some tinkering. It's somewhat telegraphic, to fit into a Facebook entry:
1) Workers should get out of the mindset that says the company "pays for everything." The cost of premiums or self-insurance is part of their payroll budget which could have been used for salaries (or a new yacht for the boss). That leads to...
2) Knowing that the costs actually do, however indirectly, come out of their pockets they'd take better care of their health.
3) Then we could get serious about preventive medicine, such as quitting smoking, exercising, eating better, caring about air and water quality, going for checkups, etc. (The UAW took a stab a this, probably too late.)
4) Get more people insured to expand the risk pool. Young people think they don't need it because they don't get sick. False.
5) I don't care that much who owns the system, but 1 through 4 might get people to at least consider a system at in which the govt is one of the players. I do not think the govt should pick up the tab for the uninsured; that would allow the companies to cherry pick.
1 comments:
You are mostly right but having more government involvement is no panacea. If there is a government option smaller and medium-size employers will likely opt out of providing health insurance, leaving most Americans no choice but to join the government plan. If private insurers deny coverage, the patient can appeal and even take the insurer to court. If the government denies coverage, you are much less likely to have the option of redress. Just look at the power of the IRS. Also, the current plans put forth have been shown by Congress's own analysis to increase costs, not to reduce them as promised by the Obama administration.
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