08-27-2008, 06:34 PM
Quote:The first problem is accuracy in media,
"But if you're one of the 45 million Americans who don't have health insurance, then you will have it available to you. No one will be turned away because of a pre-existing condition or illness,"
This is a number that has been debunked. Some of these people choose not to have insurance, some are illegal aliens, some are between employers, and some have yet to file for benefits. In Minnesota, with all the various give away programs the number of uninsured is a fraction of a percent. 49% of Minnesota's uninsured qualify for a program, but have not applied. I would like a system that does not rely on employers, but I'd rather not have it be a government program.
My concern is that government bureaucracy has not proven to be a good solution for anything else, so why do we continue to believe that it is the answer for health insurance. Even those other nations with highly touted systems, such as the French, are seeing them begin to unravel.
How many of those haven't applied out of ignorance? And, for a person wtih a pre-existing medical condition, getting coverage can suck. Have psoriasis... no dice; have depression/anxiety and have the audacity to try to treat it... no dice; born with asthma... too bad.
Corporate bureaucrats don't do any better: HMO's requiring pre-approval for coverage in medical emergencies (sorry patient we can't treat you, your HMO told us that it was "unnecessary" surgery to stop the internal bleeding, guess you'll just sit there and bleed to death). The only thing that corporate bureaucracy does is make a different set of people rich off the graft and corruption you see in government agencies.
Also in the "private is better" matter... you know how many private insurance companies had to be sued before paying under contract obligations after Katrina, Wilma, etc.? I don't want to hear that private is "better" than government or more efficient.
The only solution is better people. Making everything private isn't the solution, making everything public isn't the solution either. Accountability, integrity, and *real* penalties for transgression is the only way to go.