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Politics : View from the Center and Left -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Lane3 who wrote (129326)	1/26/2010 8:53:44 PM
From: Cogito	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 541777

>>How many companies would choose to enter that market is unknown. But even if it's just a few, that would mean that people would have a few more options than they have now. Some states have only a couple of companies operating now. So add a few to a couple and you have competition and choice. The initiative to "buy across state lines isn't instead of state-by-state insurance, it's in addition.<< We do know how many insurance companies are large enough to operate nationally, and it's not a big number. Not even double digits. But let's suppose that a few companies who aren't doing business in my state enter the market. Presently, each of my doctors has a certain number of employees who manage the bills going out to the companies who already do business here. They have to bill the insurance companies, follow up on payments, respond to requests for more information, file appeals when claims are denied, etc. The addition of a few more means either that those employees will be working more, or that there will be new ones. So I guess that's good for the employment picture, but it won't reduce the doctor's costs. And that's just one issue. What I'd like to see is a basic level of insurance provided to everyone through a federal program modeled on Medicare, with private insurance companies allowed to sell add-on packages for those who want them, as in the French model. They already do that with Medicare recipients. The risk pool for the government program would be about as well distributed as it could be, and the feds wouldn't be in it to make a profit. They would have tremendous clout in negotiating fees, prescription drug prices, etc. By all means, let's allow the add-on packages to be sold nationwide. I'd also like to see real reform in the whole healthcare system, not just in the healthcare insurance business. I'd welcome changes in the whole fee-for-service model, but I haven't seen any realistic proposals on how specifically to change it or how to get there, considering the hysterical reactions so many Americans have to the concept of socialized medicine. And of course, those reactions are kept in the hysterical range by the fear mongering of certain factions.