Daily News Updates - Health Insurance News

Analyzing the Divergence, Pt.4 – Vagaries are double-edged.

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Vagaries are double-edged. On the one hand, they can provide abstract concepts for a health insurance/care system where detail is not yet available. In politics, they may be used to secure votes from among differing ideologies. These ideologies may be the belief of “every man for himself; all your gain is your own to keep” or the opposing belief that “a society can only flourish when it cares about its lesser falling into despair and destruction”. What do we do about the 18,000 to 22,000 Americans who die each year for lack of health insurance? Key question; obscured by vagaries in health insurance/care reform.

But on the other hand, vagaries can also fend off accountability. When Mr. McCain says of his health insurance proposal: ‘We’re not going to leave anyone out”, does he mean to include people with MS, MD and cancer? Is his GAP (Guaranteed Access Plan) just another ‘high-risk pool’ where some of these people would be charged $20,000 a month for health insurance, or will they be subsidized to the point of reality? Or is the acronym ‘GAP’ just a play on the word ‘gap’, where these people simply fall through the cracks. Should we tolerate a Presidential administration that willingly turns a blind eye, as we did with the ‘home mortgage’ disaster? Vagaries are double-edged and must be monitored.

Another striking feature about Mr. McCain’s health insurance proposal is selling insurance across state lines. The implications here are deceptively profound. On the surface they just seem like another technicality.

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