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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Alighieri who wrote (496998)	7/21/2009 8:13:52 PM
From: i-node	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 1577864

>> Quit bitching about the obvious and tell us what YOU would DO INSTEAD I'd start with the following: a) Cap malpractice awards at a figure that adequately reimburses patients for their suffering but doesn't give them a free ride. b) Implement immediately a "Health Care ID Card" that every person is required to have which details his/her health insurance coverage, regardless of insurance carrier. Except in life-or-death emergencies, no treatment ANYWHERE is available to anyone without a card (even if they don't have insurance). All insurance claims are filed electronically with the registry for these cards which forwards the claims to the appropriate payors, eliminating the current "clearinghouse" arrangements altogether. This operation would be funded by insurance carriers based on claim volumes. The CMS 1500 and UB92 would be totally eliminated. c) Eliminate by federal law the state line limitations on competition of health plans, which would instantly increase, substantially, the competition for private health insurance. d) Accept the insurance companies offer for universal coverage in exchange for requiring everyone to have insurance. e) The Medicare Part D program, to date, has been the most successful government health program in history, each year coming in far, far under budget, consistently cutting costs, yet generating an 80-85% customer satisfaction rate. This is the model for a Medicare Part A/B system that works. f) Allow drug reimportation, but more importantly, allow the drug companies to "buy" longer patents with price reductions. g) Allocate $5B/year to fund 500 primary care clinics across the country where free primary/prenatal/EPSDT benefits are available for any person who, according to their ID card, does not have insurance coverage. These clinics could also dispense medications, but generics only. And they would be managed by professionals, not bureaucrats. h) Every school in the country from 7-12 is required to provide a class EACH year to teach social responsibility to school-aged children. This includes not only their responsibility to have health insurance, but responsibility as teenagers, respect for other people's lives and property, responsible relationships and parenting, and other subjects. So, the idea of trying to get by without health insurance doesn't seem quite no natural as they grow up. That's enough. I'd do these things, and see where we are in five years. That's a damned sight better than what Obama and the liberals in Congress want.