Daily News Updates - Health Insurance News

N.C. Health Care Reflects Big Picture, Pt.2 - Great idea – any Champions?

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Starting with the immediate North Carolina situation, we note that over a million and a half residents are without health insurance. As if that’s not enough, it’s even more alarming to know that this health insurance crisis is getting worse here almost twice as fast as it is nationally. These facts are the findings of the Health Access Coalition of the N.C. Justice Center. This announcement comes as, not just another doom exclamation, but as an opener to what may be a way out of it. The means suggested to accomplish this is a health insurance public-private partnership.

The obvious hurdle is always the same. Getting large numbers of people to change, even if they’re already in a bad situation. So, of course this is the summary of project director Adam Searing, when he says: “If anyone would actually enact it, it would be a huge step forward.” CEO of Mission Hospitals, Joe Damore, concurs and advocates that this would be a great starting point for a health insurance/care change we all know must be made. “The current system is unsustainable,” he notes. He also acknowledges the need for a health insurance/care system that is “some kind of public-private partnership.”

Similar to the Massachusetts health insurance model, this plan would also allow residents who aren’t eligible for Medicaid to still ‘buy into’ adequate plans at affordable rates. Like Massachusetts, the premium prices would be determined on a sliding-scale basis, so all could afford it.

Unlike the Massachusetts model and more akin to the Obama approach; the goal is to provide quality health insurance that is affordable to all, but not mandatory.

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