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I remain skeptical. I see what my friend in Germany lives with, 40% income tax and 19% sales tax to pay for a government health care program that has many many flaws and keeps covering less and less so that every citizen has to buy private insurance that pays for procedures and things the government health care does not pay for so if you end up having to buy your own individual health insurance from the money left over after being taxed almost half of your wages then what's the benefit?
I myself looked in to TennCare because I am uninsured and unemployed. I don't qualify. I have to be self employed at least 20 hours a week and prove it with my tax returns or have not been unemployed for over six months, etc. so on. And I'm not destitute enough for Medicaid. From what I read TennCare is considered a failure because employers decided it was cheaper to do away with providing health care and pay the tax penalty so the system was overloaded almost overnight. I think I read somewhere they haven't enrolled any adults in TennCare since 1995[?] Don't know if that is correct. What ever happens I hope they look at all the flaws in other country's systems and TennCare and do not repeat same.
Here's just one of many articles I've read on TennCare: TennCare: What Happened
[LEFT] Steve Verdon (http://www.outsidethebeltway.com/archives/author/verdon/ - broken link) | Tuesday, October 23, 2007 [/LEFT]
Part of the story those who favor some sort of government run health care repeat is that private health care is very costly. They point to the costs incurred by the U.S. compared to other countries such as Canada, the U.K., etc. They note that the U.S. pays much more per person but supposedly gets lower health care outcomes (measured rather dubiously via things like life expectancy).
The problem I have with this narrative, aside from the rather dubious reliance simply on published cost figures from these governments and the reliance on statistics like life expectancy, is the idea that government is suddenly going to be more efficient than the private sector. Government’s primary job is the creation of “red tape”. The idea that we can actually switch to the government and get less costs strains credulity past the breaking point.
Case in point: TennCare. TennCare is Tennessee’s attempt to expand health care to people who did not have health care. According to Wikipedia, TennCare moved 1.3 million people into its system including 500,000 people with pre-existing conditions. TennCare was to utilize managed care organizations to keep costs low while at the same time providing quality care. And for a few years it seemed to work. Costs declined, and more people were covered. Then costs started rising…and rising quickly (http://www.tennessean.com/government/archives/03/12/43973707.shtml - broken link). Governor Bredesen brought in an outside consulting firm to look at TennCare and its ballooning budget. They pronounced TennCare unsustainable and pointed out that unless something was done the program would consume up to 90% of the State’s budget. (Hmmmm, gee sounds like I’ve heard something like this before…) And keep in mind that a big part of the costs would be picked up by the Federal government.
The solution to this was to…limit access. Gee, where ever have Iheard thisbefore? Limits were put on the number of doctor’s visits, the number of prescriptions, and 160,000 people were moved out of TennCare (what happened to them, beats me).
So what happened? Government stepped in and costs spiraled out of control so much that it threatened to consume nearly the entire budget for the State. Benefits had to be rationed and/or reduced and no new enrollment. Where are the cost savings that were supposed to have materialized and made everything, if not wonderful, at least better? TennCare: What Happened
Excellent and informative post. I assume most of those on TennCare were poor so the state picked up the entire tab? Clearly, that is an unsustainable situation.. When I'm working on accounts for our small company, I enter the SS, Medicare and Fed withholding. I just don't see why these weekly withholdings shouldn't include a similiar deduction for some kind of healthcare system that would still allow people choices. Most folks seem relatively content with Medicare (as one choice) so why shouldn't a national program like this work? Statistics seem to indicate that administrative costs for Medicare run around 5% whereas insurance company's costs are around 15%. And we've all heard about the (for-profit) insurance company's huge profits.
Ultimately I just can't get away from the overwhelming feeling that people lives shouldn't be destroyed because they can't get health care or have been denied coverage on policies they've faithfully paid for (the pre-existing condition loophole).
I wonder if anyone posting here (in the Tri) has experienced a health care/insurance nightmare.
Happy to have a little latitude to talk with our fellow locals about this issue and how it could affect our lives here in NE TN...
Just learned on Politico.com that liberal and conservative House Dems just reached agreement on changes in the health care bill that should clear the way for it to pass the final (of 3) House committee, House Energy and Commerce, then brought to the floor for the BIG debate.. One of the resolved sticking points among Dems was the % amount folks would be required to pay, down from 12 to 11 percent of household income. That doesn't seem unreasonable when considering what percentage of their incomes some folks are currently paying for their health insurance.
"One step in a long and complex legislative process," said one rep.. And Pelosi has also promised a floor vote on the gov-run single payer program; this to appease the more liberal wing of her party who were aggressively pushing it.
Yet year after year subsequent governors and the legislature struggled to pay for a program. Mr. Bredesen was recently quoted by the Associated Press as lamenting the program "got totally out of control. It was growing at 15 percent a year. Tennessee had the most expensive Medicaid program in the country... Our experience with trying to do universal coverage ended up being a disaster." Listen to Gov. Bredesen on Health Care Reform - ABC News
Phil Bredesen has faced interminable federal red tape and litigation before federal judges as he tries to reform TennCare. He has been wrestling that crocodile for six years. Perhaps that's why he's not too keen on the health-care plans in Congress being touted by the Democrats. Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen said Monday that Congress should deal with President Barack Obama’s health care reform plans in a “straight up and honest” fashion by confronting funding problems head on instead of trying to stick states with costly new Medicaid burdens. “I mean, don’t say, ‘Well, I can’t pass a tax, I’m going to find some way to lay it off on somebody else,’” Gov. Bredesen said in an interview. “If you can’t pass a tax; you can’t do it, I guess. There’s no free lunches in the world here.” He said governors are in “open revolt” over plans to foist some costs onto states. Chattanooga Times Free Press | Bredesen says states leery of health care proposals
The Greeneville Sun - News Story
According to CNN, Obama said: "When we come back in September, I will be available to answer any questions that members of Congress have. If they want to come over to the White House and go over line-by-line what's going on, I will be happy to do that."
ROE LETTER TO OBAMA
Roe's letter reads, in part: "I am writing to accept your offer yesterday from your health care town hall meeting in Raleigh to 'come over to the White House and go over line-by-line what's going on.'
"As a physician who helped patients for over 30 years, I am deeply concerned about some of the changes being proposed in this legislation. From reading the 1,000+ pages of the House bill, H.R. 3200, a clear byproduct of the legislation will be an expansive new bureaucracy put directly between patients and the care recommended by their doctors.
"I would also like to share some experiences we have had in our state with TennCare, which was created in 1994 as a way to expand universal coverage and was written in a similar fashion to this legislation. What we learned is that the costs rose dramatically, and the state had to cut people from the program because it was financially unsustainable.
"By sitting down and going through the bill together, we will come to some mutual understanding about why many House Republicans are raising concerns about the approach put forward in the bill in front of us.
"Additionally, I would be happy to share some ideas on how we can enact bipartisan reforms that reduce the cost of and increase access to health insurance without increasing our deficits.
"I appreciate your offer and stand ready to meet at your convenience."
I wonder if anyone posting here (in the Tri) has experienced a health care/insurance nightmare.
Not a nightmare as in owing thousands and thousands of dollars. I shudder at that and hope I never do. However, with my (debilitating) injury there are many costs that have come out of pocket. My insurance is pretty crappy and I barely scrape by every month - there's no way I can afford any extra coverage. (I guess one could argue that I could cancel the Internet and pay another insurance premium...) Yes, I'm in debt now because my insurance company refused to pay many costs. No, I'm still not out of the woods and surgery is in my immediate future. I imagine I'll be in a lot more medical debt before this is over.
I'm a middle class, white, American male. I can't imagine what people with even more obstacles in their way face with insurance battles.
I am 100% pro-America, pro-Obama and pro-socialized healthcare. It works for the elderly. I'm not afraid to say go single payer. There are thousands of people out there that feel like I do, yet all we hear on the news and forums is "OH MY GOD DON'T TAKE AWAY MY HEALTHCARE AND GUNS! VOTE REPUBLICAN!"
Where are all the other rational thinkers!? Sometimes, I feel like I belong in another country. Or maybe 100 years in the future.
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