Right now care is not rationed at all. While there may be what seems like rationing with insurance, it isn't actually rationed "care" it is rationed "coverage". The care is still available to you it is just not paid for by your insurance company. You are still able to get the treatment if you pay for it yourself. I know that to some who are poor that might as well be rationed care, but there is an important difference here.
There are ways to get help without insurance. Most hospitals have their own assistance programs for families who do not qualify for government assistance or have insurance. I am applying for that right now with one hospital. My insurance company does not pay for any genetic testing and having a daughter with DS that was something very important to me when I was pregnant again. At least I could still get the testing done, even if I have to pay for it myself, which is what I am having to do. Even though it wasn't covered it was not rationed care because I still got the care, I just had to pay out of pocket.
A government run health insurance company will not allow for that to happen anymore. If they won't cover a test you are just screwed and can't get it even if you are willing to pay for it. The hospitals will not be allowed to file it outside of your coverage. The care will simply be unavailable to you. That is what we call "rationing" of care because the care will only be given to those they deem worthy. The care is not rationed with insurance it just isn't paid for by them, but you still have the freedom to try to get it. If the government runs it you lose that very basic freedom to get the care you so disparately need on your own.
Health insurance is something we purchase to help us with the cost of health care, it is not what gives us our health care. They do get to make choices about what they will cover, but they do NOT get to make choices about what you can pay for on your own. We need to treat health insurance the same way we do other insurances and realize it is there to simply help us with costs, it is NOT the end all solution to our health care needs.
This is why the Republican plan of opening up insurance across state lines will help our health care costs tremendously. If there are around 2000 health insurance companies in this country but only 4 or 5 can function in your state, then you don't have much choice and very little competition to choose from. But if we could pick and choose our insurance from among all 2000 companies we would suddenly start finding companies that WILL pay for the services that meet our needs. The companies will be forced to offer more competitive rates and services that are sometimes not covered.
Choice and competition is the solution to the problem. A government run solution stifles both choice and competition and therefore will make matters worse, not better. Do not buy into the lie that they simply want to compete with private health insurance. What they really want to do is shut them down. Don't take my word for it, take theirs.
2 comments:
Yes, there are ways to help without insurance. But wouldn't it be better to truly fix the problem by getting rid of health insurance companies completely?
Now before you misunderstand me- I am not advocating a takeover of insurance by the government. But the fact of the matter of the matter is that insurance companies often deny coverage (which often equates to care) to people that really need it.
Some people cannot afford health insurance, but neither do they qualify for the charity programs run by hospitals or Medicare. They make too much. But they cannot afford insurance, or the bills that come with medical visits. What is to be done?
Doing away with insurance all together? ABSOLUTELY NOT! The truth is the that majority of Americans are satisfied with their current coverage. It is foolishness to take away what works for most Americans just to help a few. Instead of taking away Insurance and overhauling the entire system that works well for most people, we should simply focus on helping those for whom it does not work.
It is a lie that Insurance usually doesn't cover people when they need it. I LOVE my current insurance company. I have a daughter with Down Syndrome who spent her first several months in the hospital. Between her weeks of intensive care in the NICU and her open heart surgery, feeding issues, other surgeries, home health services and tons of office visits to her regular doctor and several specialists my insurance company ALWAYS paid for her care. She has been needing these services for 8 years now and not once, in all that time did they EVER deny coverage. No one in our entire support group has ever had coverage denied!
My parents have had years of illnesses and my dad spent his last few months in the hospital with surgeries and treatments after his stroke. He had heart disease, diabetes, lung problems, arthritis, and many other ailments. His insurance company covered EVERY expense and not once did they EVER deny coverage. That is the story of everyone I know. I don't personally know of anyone who was denied coverage when they needed it.
Recently I had one area in which my insurance did not cover something. It is something that their policy says they do not cover. They did not do it to spite me or take something away when it was due me, it is simply something they do not cover. The service was only $400 and it was not a life threatening treatment. It is an elective procedure and I am willing to and can afford to pay that out of pocket. We need to realize that we are responsible for the cost of our own health care. Insurance is there to help us pay for it, not provide it ALL for us.
Are there companies that scam clients? Yes. So let's put a stop to that and punish companies when they do wrong. Are there people not being covered who should be? Yes. So let's focus on ONLY those who need help and leave rest of us alone!! Are there alternatives to insurance? Absolutely which is why a mandate to require everyone to purchase it is wrong. Allow Americans to CHOOSE how they want to handle their own health care. Rather than taking options away from us why not give us more of them? Health savings accounts are a good idea, let's encourage more of those. Let insurance be purchased over state lines, that would help. We can buy auto insurance over state lines, why not health insurance? Let's limit medical malpractice lawsuits so that doctor's don't need to spend all their money on malpractice insurance and therefore can charge patients less for services. What we do NOT need to do is think that the solution for one person is the solution for all and therefore FORCE every American to do the same thing. We need FREEDOM in health care choices, not mandates and government control and/or over regulation which is what the current health care bill is trying to do. We need to start from scratch and get a bill that fixes the problems, not make matters worse.
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