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Politics : A US National Health Care System? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: i-node who wrote (6505)	3/25/2009 12:36:08 PM
From: Lane3	2 Recommendations Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 42652

That is a bogus conclusion. I disagree. Here's why. Back before employers provided insurance, people bought insurance. My working-poor family had health insurance. It was called "major medical." It came in handy when I was hospitalized for a month with pneumonia when I was 13. What made health insurance unaffordable for anyone but employers was that employers made their benefits more and more generous to compete with other employers and to keep their employees happy. That's how health "insurance" became pre-paid health plans, no longer insurance. And that's how costs got so high. Had employers not gotten involved, we would still have families buying "major medical" policies.

To: i-node who wrote (6505)	3/26/2009 10:36:21 AM
From: Peter Dierks	2 Recommendations Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 42652

The author makes a giant leap -- that is, "Because the premiums are paid for by the employer, the employee doesn't care what the cost of his health care is". That is a bogus conclusion. The truth is, "Because the bills are paid by the insurance company, the patient doesn't care ..." And there is a lot of truth to that. And you don't solve the problem with so-called "managed care" where a $20 copay is the order of the day. Making patients become MORE responsible, not LESS, is a step in the right direction. But I don't see anyone headed that way, to be honest. One of the largest improvements outside of personal responsibility would be to de-Balkinize the industry. When states are no longer allowed to allow outrageously expensive coverage in their state the insurance market will become vastly more efficient and coverages will be available to suit all consumers.