Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Cal: There is Too Much Subterfuge in This Process.

Fred, you are correct. Longer than 20 years. Pregnancy was not covered in Maryland when our son Rylan was born in 1980. It was all out of pocket, though worth every penny, if I may say. Point being that it is the states (influenced by lobbyists, that make the rules on health insurance. Not the Feds. Thus, the plight of Mary Kay and Christa, though in her case she is punished for working two or more part-time jobs, neither of which provides health insurance or premium assistance. States could easily change that. Doing away with pre-existing condition exclusions and making insurance portable and available across state lines will go a long way toward fixing their problem. And who among us doesn't have a pre-existing condition, anyway?

There is too much subterfuge in this process. Too many behind the scenes players, like lobbyists and social engineers. That is why the Clinton plan failed. It was written in secret and then sprung on congress for approval. Well that won't work; and besides nobody liked Hilary very much. Now, I for one, remember nothing about specifics of that proposal. Maybe I wasn't paying much attention in 1993. And now, the President has erred in delegating the health care reform process to the most distrusted body in the government led by Nancy Pelosi who most people don't like very much. That won't work either. There is a huge pool of citizens who know they pay too much for insurance coverage, and they are beginning to understand why. But just. That is why the issues must be aired and discussed thoroughly before any vote comes to the floor. If you believe that the system must be deep sixed, that is one position. (The President and Congress didn't think so in the cases of Wall Street or the automobile industry, though). But have we had that discussion? I don't think so. There has been little discussion as far as I know about how to repair the existing system. We need to do that. If it can't be fixed, so be it. But I think it can, and must be. Profit is not a dirty word. Hell, I'd love to make a profit. Profit(and that can be merely enjoying the fruits of one's labors) is a motivation. Fraud and inefficiency must be curtailed.

And from a business person's perspective here are some things I know. My employees are all as happy as can be expected with their CareFirst/BlueCross/Blue Shield with prescription coverage. The company pays 30% of the premiums which run about $14,000/month. It's a burden but we have managed so far (we used to pay a much larger percentage). But the proposed plan will require us to pay for a much larger percentage for both about 75% employee and 65% dependant coverage. That will be too expensive for us and we will be "forced" by circumstances to drop the coverage and join the government plan. So, while we are "allowed" to keep our coverage we won't be "able" to. It amounts to the same thing. Or, if we don't join the government plan we will have to pay an $80,000 penalty not to participate. We will all be on our own, like Mary Kay and Christa. I don't see the improvement. And my employees won't have any help with their premiums!

Cal

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