Healthcare Reform Options

Vanity | 01/27/2011 | Onelifetogive

[Onelifetogive]

There are a lot of smart (a55ed?) people here with plenty of good ideas. So, how do we fix healthcare?

There are some givens.

1) Some people are basically worthless and their skills are insufficient to feed and shelter themselves, much less pay for healthcare.
2) This country will not let people suffer from lack of healthcare.

Recommendations:

1) Set up free government or charity clinics for the indigent. Keep them out of hospitals and emergency rooms where paying customers are treated.
2) If a free clinic cannot deal with a person's issues, he could then be transported to a hospital, but the hospital would have to be paid. The debt would be assigned to the IRS to collect. It infuriates me that a hospital can be required by law to treat someone, but not be reimbursed for the cost! What if any hungry person could walk into any resturant and demand to be fed from the menu at no cost? We's soon have a "food availability crisis".
3) I have NEVER been a fan of getting insurance thru my employer. I have hundreds of choices for homeowners insurance, life insurance and auto insurance, but I have ONE choice for healthcare! It is MY money that they use to buy my healthcare. Give it to me and met ME buy my insurance.

[HushTX]

You don’t have to get your health insurance through your employer. Why do people remain stuck on that idea?

http://www.insurancemakesmesick.com/

[screaminsunshine]

I like that idea. The clinics could administer charity care. Tort law should be changed and Nurses allowed to care for minor ailments. Or even Para-Meds. It would be cheap and efficient. However the recipients would probably complain that the care is not free enough.

[smokingfrog]

Expansion of Clinics Shapes Bush Legacy

[radpolis]

The health care crisis is easy to solve.

If you are a doctor, clinic or hospital in order to receive a business license where you do business, you must dedicate one day or two days a month to treat the indigent for free.

Then they can right it off on their state and federal taxes.

The costs of treating the poor are spread very wide and the health care professionals don’t have to pay taxes on their earnings if they treat enough people.

If I were a doctor, I would do it.

I would be willing to work for a free a few days a month in exchange for not paying income and/or corporate taxes.

And the money that is saved from government health programs now can go towards funding emergency medicine.

[Reddy]

How about the government gets out of health care and the Church takes care of people like it is supposed to do?

[Onelifetogive]

You don’t have to get your health insurance through your employer. Why do people remain stuck on that idea?

Part of my compensation package is employer-provided insurance. They will not provide the compensation in any other form (cash.)

[Onelifetogive]

you must dedicate one day or two days a month to treat the indigent for free.

And lawyers must dedicate one or two days a month pro bono? And resturants (and their employees) must server poor people free one or two days a month? And one or two days a month for construction workers to build highways to relieve conjection? And one or two days a month,everyone else MUST help out in schools, because of our education crisis?

[HushTX]

So this is specific to your employer? Because I know a lot of people who were under the impression their insurance was “part of the package” and that they “had to get it through work.” Both patently false. I’m sure SOME places have it rigged up like that, I just haven’t encountered it. Have you clarified this with HR?

[Onelifetogive]

Have you clarified this with HR?

Yes. Employers allow people to opt out (for example, their spouse has a better plan from their employer.) Some employers will actually pay a small amount of the money that is paid for insurance to you if you opt out (i.e. to encourage people to go with the spouse's plan and save the company money.)

I have never heard of any company paying employees the FULL amount that would be paid for insurance if the employee opts out. Even if they did, the money would be taxed at your marginal rate, leaving MUCH less money to buy insurance in the market.

Is it technically feasible to get insurance apart from your employer when you have a salary/benefits job - Yes. Is it practical - Not really.

[HushTX]

At the last job I had which offered insurance, the only way anything was taken out was if I chose to enroll in the insurance program. Prior to enrollment I paid nothing into the pot. Perhaps it was an isolated case? I worked for a university, though I’m not sure that’s relevant.

I have found that the plans I could have gotten via the above link were much more affordable and equally beneficial as what I had via the university.

[Onelifetogive]

At the last job I had which offered insurance, the only way anything was taken out was if I chose to enroll in the insurance program. Prior to enrollment I paid nothing into the pot.

I don't doubt you. But generally the employer is paying some portion of the insurance premium (out of your total compensation package) but will not give the money if you choose to buy elsewhere. So you lose that portion of your compensation. In your case, either the amount the University paid was small, or the discount you found was exceptionally large.