Federal Health Care: Suggestions to make it better.

There was a time in my life where I was so broke that $5.00 was a windfall.  After paying for the most basic survival expenses, I had no money left over, so the issue of purchasing health insurance was definitely out of my reach, and I was making too much money to receive MediCal (the California version of MediCaid).  There were other times when, through my employment, I did have health care.  I have to admit, there was an element of less stress knowing that I was covered.

Although I basically am an Obama fan there are some things on which I disagree with him.  One of them is his version of health care that still panders to insurance companies.  Personally, I would prefer universal health care but it is not likely to happen any time soon.  Having been in real estate, I know that most commercial loans are provided by insurance companies so the impact of reducing or eliminating health care insurance companies from the equation would be more far reaching than most of us are aware of, not that I would be displeased if this happened...but I digress.

I like the parts of the recent Health Care bill where patients have rights, no pre-existing conditions, no being dropped from plans, no one can be denied, and all the other basic changes on behalf of the citizens of the country.  Where I think there is a disconnect is mandating that all people must be insured.

The health care laws are made by people who make a pretty good living and for whom $500 to $1,000 per month is a reasonable price tag for insurance.  What about the people who are hardworking but have no or very little money left over?  This amount is a complete hardship.  I do understand why the mandates make sense in that to make things more competitive (and supposedly reduce prices) all people have to be in the game.  We have not had any guarantees thus far that prices will come down, in fact the insurance companies are doing everything they can to circumvent what they consider to be new lower-profit regulations, such as dropping new policies for children.  They have also been pre-emptively raising prices based on what?? 

There are some real flaws in the new health care law, however, I will ultimately back it up if I have to.  In my book, it has opened the doors to revising how health care is done in this country, which no President has ever accomplished before.  As far as I am concerned, repealing it is not an option, but we can all work to think of ways to make it better.  I believe if you want to complain, help be a part of the solution.

So how can the national health care plan be resolved to be more beneficial than detrimental?  I hope we can get a lot of discussion and suggestions because WE are the people who are affected, so WE know what we need.  The politicians use horrible health care related stories to highlight the need for health care reform, and while these people have been through hell, we really need to start focusing on what the average population needs and what is fair.

Solutions

To me, a much easier way of delivering health care insurance at the federal level would be to make insurance companies sell inexpensive catastrophic (high deductible) policies with the actual deductible to be on a sliding scale according to income and/or family size.  The more income a person has, the amount of the deductible becomes greater.  If people wanted more comprehensive coverage, they could buy it.  Quite simple, actually.  With the routine health care being provided already in the current bill, generally the out of pocket for patients would be if there was a catastrophic situation.

There are some states, localities, and health care facilities who actually charge patients the actual cost of their treatments if they are self-pay (see COST VS. PRICE: Health care providers make profits off the backs of the uninsured!).  In my experience I have been grateful to have had these resources.  I discovered I really didn't need insurance for my everyday needs.  Using the convenient care and hospital outpatient facilities were far less expensive than using a private doctor and/or paying expensive insurance premiums.

I think if states were to have a program where medical providers were mandated to provide health care for uninsured patients at or near their actual costs (building in a little for profit is ok), they should be able to opt out from the Federal Health Care Mandate.  If the states don't, the mandate is in place with the mandated catastrophic affordable policies or private policies provided by employers and those that want to purchase them.  This should take care of it in my opinion.

What are your suggestions?  Do you have any ideas as to how to make the Federal Health Care Bill better?  If your solution is to repeal the Federal Health Care Bill, please also explain how this will make things better, not just for you, but for the citizens of this nation.  More ideas are better than just a few from the lawmakers with their special interests.  If I get enough ideas, I will send them along to Washington.