Health Care Reform Facts

The first big sticker shock of the new ObamaCare era will happen later this year, when the community rating guidelines become final and binding. Suddenly, a whole lot of people under age 62 are going to see higher healthcare premiums and wonder why that is.

They shouldn't worry though, they will be getting subsidies to help with those premiums; ooops, not until 2013 or 2014; sorry to make it looks like this thing saves money they will only collect taxes for four years, not give you the subsidy you were promised.

As for all of you folks that are cheering because pre-existing conditions are now covered, that doesn't happen until 2014. Until then you can (and will) still be rejected unless they are willing to pay big.

Hey, like your current plan, aren't you glad you get to keep it. Maybe... Well if it has a flexible spending account or an HSA as part of it, you don't really get to keep it. Those don't fit the new guildelines for proper insurance, so you'll have to find something else. Sorry if it costs more.

Do you work for a small business, that treats you really well with insurance. Sorry to say that you have about a 1 in 3 chance of having your policy cancelled and being told to buy from the "exchange". Why? Easy, the fine for most businesses to not cover you is much cheaper than buying you insurance. Sorry, you don't get to keep what you have either.

Sorry to piss on your parade, just thought a few facts might be good to have. But look on the bright side, at least McDonalds will be required to post the nutritional info on their drive through board. That's worth the trade-offs, right.

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Can Health Care Reform Be Saved?

If you regularly read my irregular blog posts, you are probably wondering about this one, considering the title. I've written a number of things critical of what's going on in Congress concerning health care reform, most of it unflattering to Congress.

The truth is, we do need some reform, which I've occasionally mentioned. What we didn't need was the House's wholesale take over, or the Senate's hodge-podge of payoffs and hush money to get anything passed. We need some common sense things done.

Now that political reality has set in for Nancy Pelosi, it might be possible. Tuesday night she was telling us that Scott Brown's election did nothing to change what was going to happen. Then she talked to her caucus and pronounced the Senate version of health care reform dead in the House. That was really the only way they were getting anything to the President's desk before his State of the Union address.

So, how do they save Health Care Reform? The best way would be to get 4 Senators and 4 Congressmen from each party together and work on ideas they can all agree on. Here's a few that shouldn't cause too much pain.

1. Portability. Decouple health care from the job, and to the person. Allow employers to pay for it if you wish, but have the insurance follow the person.

The "insurance exchange" idea would actually work for this. Employers buy from the exchange, in the employee's name. When they leave the company the insurance goes with them. The next employer can pick up the tab, if they wish, or the individual can do it on their own.

2. Taxes. Give employees the same break as employers when it comes to paying for health insurance. It's a crazy thing that if I get my own insurance unless I meet a threshold I get no tax break, but if my boss pays he gets a big one. Now if the person from example 1 decides to leave to start their own business, they aren't penalized for buying their own insurance.

3. National coverage standards. Right now we have 50 states with 50 different coverage standards. A minimum coverage policy in Kentucky is about 400% less than in New York. Set a national standard for coverage, so that insurance isn't locked into what state you are living in. We've become mobile, our insurance should be too.

4. Pre-existing conditions. They should be covered. The problem with both the House and Senate versions is that they want to exist in a fantasy world where your pre-existing condition shouldn't mean you pay more for coverage. It's funny that two bodies will one day lecture the banking industry about their fiscal irresponsibility for getting into hedge funds, and the next chastise insurers for charging more to people who it costs more to service.

5. Tort Reform. This gets the Democrats skin crawling, because trial lawyers are one of their biggest donor groups. The truth is that there needs to be some reform. A basic one that would be hard to vote against would be limiting the amount the lawyers in malpractice cases can be paid. Democrats would throw a hissy fit, but the truth is, if it's okay to limit bankers pay and bonuses, as they'd like to do, why not lawyers?

Mandatory arbitration in front of a panel of experts would also be a nice spot to start. Lawyers would be less likely to file frivolous malpractice suits if a group of doctors were going to hear the case first, instead of a jury of laymen. Make the results eligible for appeal to a judge and jury, but also make the panel's findings usable as evidence.

6. Uniformity of paperwork. Want to have fun, go to a doctors office with two different insurance policies. Watch the admin folks twitch as they try and figure out which is primary, which is secondary, and what form to use for each.
Want a headache? Have them get it wrong.

Insurance companies should be able to come up with an industry wide standard for claims forms, so that a doctor or clinic doesn't need two file cabinets and an extra person to chase paper. A standard system for policy numbers, similar to the VIN on your car would also be helpful. Then it would be pretty easy to develop software that works reliably for any companies claim.

None of this is really rocket science, and except the argument you'll get over tort reform, none of it is horribly controversial. However, it would all lower costs, make insurance easier to get and keep, and result in a happier, probably healthier public.

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