Thursday, September 22, 2016

Alternative to the ACA


CBO Misses Its Obamacare Projection by 24 Million People
March 2016


I was excited to buy "group" health insurance for the first time in my life. It took almost a month for me to get the website to work and I ended up getting three policy packages but still I was excited.

Then I determined I couldn't keep my doctor with any the offered ACA plans and although I signed up for dental it never worked.

A few years back a wonderful women who is a senior manager for a hospital chain let me in on an idea that is well known in her industry. Most of the things people like about Obamacare are just regulations that don't cost the tax payer a dime. Like preexisting conditions don't matter, cover kids till they turn 27, basic list of fully covered procedures, etc...

Would it make sense to eliminate the special tax treatment given all things medical and prohibited employer and group plans? Reinforce the health care safety net for those under 18 and over 65 and require everyone in the middle to have there own individual health insurance or pay a penalty come April 15th.

Right now 49% of American's are covered by their employers and yes it seems radical to change this but clearly employee offered health insurance has distorted the market to such a degree that it's nearly impossible to determine what a health care procedure is going to cost prior to billing.

This has to change!  

Buying health insurance should be like buying car or home owners insurance with a few basic rules. Rules that are now included in Obama Care.  For starters the idea that you can't find out what something is going to cost by asking your doctor "hey what's this ankle boot going to cost..." has to stop. Seriously, this isn't a new idea for a capitalistic society. Right?