Daily News Updates - Health Insurance News

Campaign Trail to Health, Pt.4 – Obama health insurance covers all, but is it par?

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As for the Obama health insurance/care proposal, we have an opinion offered by the Center for Medicine in the Public Interest’s veep, Robert Goldberg that offers much material to sort out and weigh out. He describes the Obama scheme as providing affordable health insurance for all, including those with pre-existing conditions, by way of mandates to health insurers. He starts assessing, by saying it "sounds very reassuring." As reported in the Washington Times opinion, Mr. Goldberg goes on to caution that the care will not raise a destitute person, dying with MS, who has nothing right now, to the same level of treatment that a world-prominent US Senator would get.

The mechanics of Obama’s plan are to enhance, while extending, the existing SCHIP and Medicaid programs and to provide affordable private health insurance. Mr. Goldberg elaborates, by saying that it is done "by having the government force doctors to accept below-cost rates for their services and impose a 4% tax on physician earnings." He continues to explain how the Obama plan is to create a “national health board” that will define “which drugs and procedures the government would pay for under Obama’s new plan." He talks about how some states have instituted these methods and how some doctors would opt-out of these programs and that some new medicines wound up being rationed as a result. Also, some of the private health insurance companies opted-out as well, causing longer delays for needed medical attention. Sometimes they did not even receive required medicine.

It is very important to not be diswayed into comparing these conditions to what we commonly see today when we look at insured people. That would be wrong. We must compare these conditions to the current state of the segment being addressed. That is, those 48 million Americans who, right now, have no health insurance (and therefore, may well not have any relief at all). We must also compare them to the conditions they would experience with any viable alternatives, currently on the table. Closing with Mr. Goldberg's summary "Affordable coverage should not be difficult or substandard.” He does not believe what Mr. Obama offers is good enough. So if a better plan is even remotely attainable, given the formidable constraints of our country’s legislative gauntlet, please, will that legendary hero step forward? (But please, don’t forget to include us all…we’ve always had above standard care for the wealthy, that’s never been an issue.)