Posted on 01/08/2007 1:42:34 PM PST by libertarianPA
SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Monday proposed to extend health coverage to nearly all of California's 6.5 million uninsured people, promising to spread the cost among businesses, individuals, hospitals, doctors, insurers and government.
The plan contains elements that are likely to provoke opposition from a wide range of powerful interests, including doctors, hospitals and insurers, as well as employers and unions. But it also contains incentives for each of them.
All children, regardless of their immigration status, would be covered through an expansion of the state and federal Healthy Families program.
"I don't think it is a question or a debate if they ought to be covered. ... The federal courts have made that decision — that no one can be turned away," Schwarzenegger said. "The question really isn't to treat them or not to treat them. The question really is how can you treat them in the most cost-effective way."
Under Schwarzenegger's plan, all Californians would be required to have insurance, although the poorest would be subsidized. Businesses with 10 or more employees would have to offer insurance to their workers or pay 4 percent of their payroll into a state fund. Smaller businesses would be exempt.
Also, insurers would no longer be allowed to deny coverage to people because of their medical problems.
Business groups and Republican legislators are likely to object to the extra costs imposed on businesses.
The state would subsidize the estimated 1.2 million poor people who do not currently qualify for state health coverage. They would be able to buy insurance through a state-run pool and would have to make a small contribution toward their premiums.
Schwarzenegger is betting that his plan will save $10 billion a year by cutting health care costs. He says the savings would offset the new fees he is asking doctors and hospitals to pay — 4 percent of revenue for hospitals and 2 percent for doctors.
The state also would increase what it pays doctors and hospitals through Medi-Cal, the state insurance plan for the poor.
The governor was supposed to give his address in person to a panel of health care officials. Instead, he spoke via video link since he is still recuperating from broken leg suffered in a skiing accident.
Hear, hear! - It is happening right here in Florida - with the possible exception of OB/GYN which seems to be an endangered species thanks to the legal profession - every day.
As I pointed out in a prior post, but hey, the facts and realities don't seem to have any place with most of the ivory tower social theorists here.
However, there is no logical necessity for an insurance policy to pay for my getting the flu or breaking a finger.
If the docs see all of us walk in and all we've got is our wallet and our savings account, then they will charge accordingly.
Long ago and far away, when I was very young, I heard my father say much the same thing.
"We have just handed the keys to the National Treasury to the Doctors and the Legal professions."
Medicare: How very right he was, sir.
Sorry, but that is nonsense. I don't blame you for it, given the state of the MSM in the EU and here, but the simple fact is that our Health care attracts patients from the four corners of the globe, and people absolutely stream here from Canada to pay for our medical serives.
My reply to your Bullsh*t statement would not be polite so leave it at this: You are 100% wrong.
Wise father you had there.
Their respective points, sir, are that the current pricings of healthcare have been blown out of proportion to market valuations by endless government interventions in the first place, and that the fix is not in ever more interventions until we have all reached the Socialist hell of the lowest common denominator of the entire planet being forced upon us all.
Ants live in such a miasma, not free humans.
Hasta la vista, Ahnold.
Now give me a constructive answer without the obligatory insults.
What is the "fix"? How do you fix this problem? Honestly. Don't just throw out some slogans, but propose a legitimate and workable solution.
I don't see one that does not involve the government. Do you?
See my response 168. I should have written "health care system" to more accurately reflect what I was talking about
Well, you know that paying for necessities such as cable TV and cell phones take a large chunk of that (/sarcasm).
Nor is health care as complex as you might think.
I'm sorry that the EU culture of entitlement has caused you the inablity to think in logical terms, but all that you said doesn't change the basic economic principles involved.
I'll explain it so your liberal mind can understand. Economics involves limited resources versus unlimited needs and wants. Prices are necessary to make sure that the supply is distributed in such a way that everyone has the opportunity to benefit from it. Health care is EXACTLY like any "normal commodity" in that there is only so much of it; there are only so many doctors, hospitals, medicine, etc. When you open it up and make it "free" for all, you've now broken down that barrier between supply and demand.
Now demand is up because any hypochondriac with a sniffle will go to the doctor and waste both time and money. Meanwhile, supply remains the same or decreases because the incentives that existed in a free market for more labor to get involved in medicine are gone.
Government regulation is exactly why health care is so expensive. They've created an environment much like the oil companies - there are only a few players because those are the few that can actually afford to be in the game. Meanwhile, to offset the limited fees they collect from programs like Medicare and sums they must pay in frivolous lawsuits, insurance companies have to rely on high prices and questionable business ethics to ensure high profits.
There are federal and state laws that actually require insurance companies to cover certain procedures that are either unnecessary to many people or subjective in their efficacy - accupuncture, for example. But because government requires that insurance companies to cover them in all their policies, guess what? The consumer is forced to pay for services they don't want or need.
Yes my friend, health care is a different kind of product in a moral and vital sense. But it is exactly like any other product in that government regulation is exactly why it becomes too expensive for the average American.
If government were to get out of it completely, and consumers treated their health care like they do their autombiles - pay for the maintenance themselves and use the insurance in catastrophic instances, you would see insurance prices drop to the point where anyone can afford them. Furthermore, you would see more companies crop up offering plans in which consumers could pick and choose which services they want covered - just like they do with auto insurance.
That's the truth my socialist friend. Perhaps if your nation didn't have such a sense of guilt and moral superiority, they could look at their economy logically. Maybe it would remedy those high taxes and low unemployment that you and the rest of your EU buddies enjoy.
Auf-keep your socialism out of my country-sein!
Okay, so I'm being kind.
I did, however find this
The researchers found that private insurers use about 10 percent of premiums for billing, marketing, financial activities and profit. Physician offices spend 14 percent of their income on insurance paperwork, and hospitals spend 9 percent on insurance paperwork. This financial cost to physicians for insurance paperwork is especially high, according to Kahn.
Of the total insurance premiums used to cover hospital and physician care, this research showed that 21 percent is spent on insurance administration. Another 13 percent is used to cover other administrative tasks. Only 66 percent is used for patient care.
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=33443
That was also when California was at the top of the list for dollar amount spent per student, now its way down in rank.
The middle class is leaving this state in droves, and these are the reasons why.
The people I know leaving the state are going because they can't afford to buy a home here. Even rents are high, $1,000 a month for a 1-bedroom apartment in an older building in a decent neighborhood in my area.
I was married 4 years before my daughter was born. Two and a half years later my husband got in touch with an old girl friend and decided he didn't want to be married or a father anymore.
" That is just not true."
What I meant by that was that docs taking Medicare patients couldn't take cash only patients. I was mislead and wrong. The Medicare system regulates fees. It prohibits charging Medicare patients at a higher rate and also prohibits waiving fees, such as co-pays. It's a complicated bureaucratic scheme, that varies by state.
In the example I responded to, the doc would have been required to charge the woman some full amount, then place the bill in collections. They couldn't just "forget" about the billing, or they'd be liable for a $10K civil fine for each occurrence. The practice of forgeting about billing those that couldn't afford to pay for the services was specifically forbidden under Clinton. It always violated IRS rules. Generally those are the bulk of the cash payers. In a practical sense, docs that practiced and continue to practice "forgeting" are forbidden from taking such cash customers. I got an incomplete story before.
"On one side is creating a pricey healthcare system. On the other side is a bunch of people potentially hurt."
The govm't has interfered way beyond protecting rights and fairness in the market. That's the only concern and that's the only justification for claiming "hurt".
"It's there. About the 4th paragraph."
I swear I scanned the article twice looking for that. Eye exam time, I guess.
"It's there. About the 4th paragraph."
Missed that one.
:-) We all do it.
In fact I did it so often, now I click the article and use the word/phrase - highlight, 'Find' function with my Firefox browser when I'm looking for a particular thing, or absence of.
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