how would you fix the health care system?

Question

i resently had 2 cts i am glad i have insureance through my work. each ct cost around $325 for a total of $650 my insurance paid only $314 total. i only have to pay $68 total. i am glad i am not uninsured like most poor people or i would not be able to feed myself due to the hospitle bill

Answer 1

I would simply allow any U.S. citizen by choice to purchase coverage through Medicare/Medicaid, and take away anti-trust protections away from the health insurance industry. Now they can all compete in a "free market" that is so touted by the Republicans and Libertarians. Let's see the Insurance companies drop their prices when they have to compete against Medicare/ Medicaid low overhead costs.

Answer 2

My wife and I are retired and pay $500 each per month for health insurance. We still have a $30 copay for Dr.'s visits and a $50 copay for a specialist. Then, of course, we have to pay all or a portion of the bill until the deductible is met. We are paying more for health care than we are for the mortgage on our house.

A part of the expense of our health care is due to the fact that 30% or so of the population doesn't have health insurance, and hospitals are required to provide health care to these people for free. So hospitals raise the charges on the rest of us to make up the deficit. Hospitals and insurance companies should not be allowed to pass on their losses to average citizens while keeping profits for themselves. If they have a problem with this, they should go to government and complain.

The government doesn't want to get into "socialized medicine" but they have already placed so many regulations on hospitals and doctors that we don't have a free-enterprise system, either.

If every employer were required to provide insurance, it would be a significant financial burden on small businesses. But the present system is a significant financial burden on citizens and consumers.

If the politicians don't want to require small businesses to provide insurance, then it is to the politicians to come up with a workable alternative -- not the do-nothing policy they've followed so far. Maybe that means government-subsidized insurance. If they can't find the money for that, maybe they should be prohibited from starting wars and giving away trillions of dollars overseas until they can find a way to resolve health care problems at home.

I don't think anything will be done about this until we have a complete housecleaning of politicians in Washington, D.C. The Republicans need to be put out first, because they've been in the White House for the last 2 terms. But the Democrats should be put on notice that if they don't produce results --and quickly-- they'll be put out of office, too.

Answer 3

I would ask the AMA to appoint a panel of their best administrators, finance experts, and medical technology people to study the health care systems of northern Europe and Canada, and submit proposals for adapting the best aspects of those programs to the situation here in the U.S. I would leave the insurance and pharmaceutical companies completely out of the process. We can't do it without doctors and nurses, but we can't do it WITH the greedy corporations who are demanding a for-profit system. Funding could be from taxes, but the budget would be under the auspices of a single agency, separate from Congress and the other folks who "dip" into all our other Federally-funded programs. Everyone would have to participate in order to make it work, but by eliminating the need for duplicate records, insurance premiums, corporate profits, etc., etc., I believe it could be cost-effective and make us again one of the highest-ranked countries with respect to both quality and price. Right now we're 17th, and all of the countries ranked above us have universal coverage.

Answer 4

my ideas are:

1. except for voluntary services [face lifts, etc.], every provider should charge each customer the same amount for each procedure. no excessive bills and no discounts for anyone [government payer included].

2. cap 'pain and suffering' at 250,000 as Nevada did.

3. give judges the authority to reject jury verdicts when the evidence does not support the outcome [John Edwards, call your office]

4. build a national database to centralize all patient records; [my 84 year old father can't recall what doctor he saw last year, let alone what meds he has tried that didn't work, so procedures and meds are tried over and over]

5. insurance is to cover all costs associated with a new illness throughout the life of the patient if discovered on that company's watch ... no more pre-existing conditions exclusions unless you were uninsured when it was discovered ... up to the policy limit.

6. taxes are to be applied to known dangerous behaviors and products in sufficient amount that the purchasers thereof shall fund the medical costs they create. This applies to tobacco, alcohol, illegal drugs, and excess caloric consumption [just tax calories in food and give everyone a rebate for 660,000 per year (1800+ per day)].

Why the healthy should pay for the bad habits of the unhealthy is a mystery to me.

7. Equalize the tax situation of company paid insurance and individually paid insurance. Either tax company paid insurance as income or deduct individually paid insurance directly from income [no itemized deductions test] on income taxes.


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And leave the rest alone.


GL

Answer 5

I would set up a govt health insurance system for all those legal residents who don’t have it. Eventually, most people in the country would switch over to it. It is time to end the reliance on employer's providing health care because it is hurting US companies who have to compete with other countries whose govt provides health care to their people.

Wealthier people could buy more expensive insurance. The system would have cost restraints such as always using generic medication when possible. The money for the new system would come from increased cigarette taxes and a new insurance tax on businesses.

Answer 6

I think private insurers should offer "pool" insurance for those who cannot afford it otherwise. A Lloyds of London type of coverage at an affordable cost.

I also wholeheartedly agree with tort reform. Indiana has caps on their malpractice recoveries and that is why Indiana is a progressive state in new, innovate procedures. Our hospitals and many doctors are ranked very highly in the national polls. The doctors can afford to work here, unlike in other states where malpractice payouts are through the roof and insurance premiums high.

Answer 7

The problem with health care in America is that no one sets a price ceiling. No one has told anyone "This is what you are allowed to charge and not 1 penny more". Which is why doctors are very well off while the patients are, well, not so much. Other countries in the world have figured this out (i.e. Canada) which is why all of their doctors are leaving and coming here where they can charge whatever they want for their services.

Answer 8

I'd make medical insurance illegal and I'd place limits on how much money you can "win" when a doctor screws up and commits malpractice. I would also increase the number of prosecutions for doctors who commit criminal malpractice.

Show up for surgery after that 3-martini lunch and you go to jail, period.

I blame doctors first for the problem with healthcare in America. They took an oath to "first, do no harm." Well, they're all rich and living well while the nation is in a health crisis. It seems to me, that collectively, they're doing harm.

You can't tell me that if a significant majority of the doctors in this country refused to be the pawns of the Pharmaceutical and Insurance Industries that the nation wouldn't benefit immediately.

I have nothing but disdain for that profession.

Answer 9

Implement a single-payer universal health care system and cut out the insurance companies from selling anything except insurance for supplemental and non-traditional health care. Basically, do what Canada does.

Answer 10

I'm sure they is no easy fix for the health care system since it's so messed up. but a good start would be to ban health insurance company's and drug makers from advertising on TV

I get sick of seeing Blue Cross ads on TV all the time while my ins rates seem to go up every year.

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