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Introduce a public option run by the federal government to compete with private insurers, it will be funded through premiums + give a tax deduction of premiums to encourage usage. The federal government will be an insurer essentially and can contract with hospital networks around the nation. (Under some given conditions like, exec pay cannot be ridiculous, no for-profit hospitals, etc.. ) Provide a minimum level of acceptable coverage options equal to what's provided with Obamacare. Given additional coverage options for those who want higher level of coverages. Similar to Obamacare.
Other fixes could be, limiting executive pay at insurance corporations. Mandating that a % of the profits be returned to the insurance company to be used for healthcare and not the shareholders.
You realize of course that what you describing is essentially Medicare?
I think your suggestion is a good one but the big problem is Medicaid - what to do about the large number of people who cannot afford any insurance, private or government? O'care greately expanded Medicaid but AHCA was cutting it back. The Pubs and Dems are not going to agree on Medicaid, and the only way ACA reform gets passed is through a bipartisan effort.
Other things that can happen to "fix" ACA:
- Allow insurance to be sold across state lines
- Put prescription drugs on the bargaining table for Medicare
- Put limits on drug advertising
- Require all providers to publish their prices
- Require each provider to charge the same price to everyone. No more bargaining behind your back. Provider can choose whatever they want to charge, but that price is what you then pay regardless of whether you have insurance or not.
- Disallow 0-deductible insurance (many group policies are 0-deductible).
- Disallow co-insurance that is less than 15% (need this to keep people from over-using insurance)
- Get rid of the personal mandate and replace with AHCA incentives.
I would take some elements of the Swiss system. Regulate insurance so for example deductibles are standardized. Cap premium costs to a percentage of income. The Swiss use 8% but I would recommend 10% so that no one pays more than 10% of income for insurance.
I would include a provision similar to the Swiss that if you make substantial life style changes that have positive health results a portion of the premium you paid is rebated.
You realize of course that what you describing is essentially Medicare?
I think your suggestion is a good one but the big problem is Medicaid - what to do about the large number of people who cannot afford any insurance, private or government? O'care greately expanded Medicaid but AHCA was cutting it back. The Pubs and Dems are not going to agree on Medicaid, and the only way ACA reform gets passed is through a bipartisan effort.
Other things that can happen to "fix" ACA:
- Allow insurance to be sold across state lines
- Put prescription drugs on the bargaining table for Medicare
- Put limits on drug advertising
- Require all providers to publish their prices
- Require each provider to charge the same price to everyone. No more bargaining behind your back. Provider can choose whatever they want to charge, but that price is what you then pay regardless of whether you have insurance or not.
- Disallow 0-deductible insurance (many group policies are 0-deductible).
- Disallow co-insurance that is less than 15% (need this to keep people from over-using insurance)
- Get rid of the personal mandate and replace with AHCA incentives.
Can you tell me what sold across State lines means and how it works?
You know. I don't understand why Obama care can't be tweeked. It's in it's infancy after only 7 years. We all have car insurance and house insurance. We pay $1000 a year for our primary residence and slightly more for our rentals. If someone is paying 12x as much for health care a year, why is it broken? Yes, there are higher expenses for health care, but 12x as much a year for it? Something is wrong with that math. There has to be concessions with the billionaire insurance companies, and concessions with over pricing in the hospitals. Why can't we fix this?
You know. I don't understand why Obama care can't be tweeked. It's in it's infancy after only 7 years. We all have car insurance and house insurance. We pay $1000 a year for our primary residence and slightly more for our rentals. If someone is paying 12x as much for health care a year, why is it broken? Yes, there are higher expenses for health care, but 12x as much a year for it? Something is wrong with that math. There has to be concessions with the billionaire insurance companies, and concessions with over pricing in the hospitals. Why can't we fix this?
Your renters and home owner insurance don't cover "pre-existing conditions" which is not what the concept of insurance is meant to do. I'm not saying that we don't need to figure out how to deal with it, but if you decided to shop for new homeowners insurance, and your house was currently suffering the effects of a large fire, nobody is going to take you on as a new customer and offer to fix your burned down house.
In other words... put it right smack dab on the back of the middle class......
People are complaining about how high their premiums and deductibles and out of pocket expenses are right now, and like clockwork, every year they go up, up, up. Wouldn't you be willing to put the money you lay out for those things, which basically go to enrich a middle man insurance company, towards taxes to support a universal-type healthcare program instead? One that cuts out that useless middle man and that would cover everything? I know I would.
In other words... put it right smack dab on the back of the middle class......
Going that route you would no longer be paying for insurance Premium's. So the question would be, what would the tax be, and how would that tax compare to what the middle class pays in current Premium's. So while someone might be paying a bit more in taxes, when they are no longer paying a Premium for health coverage, there actual expenses might drop. Bernie's plan for example called for an across the board 2.2% increase in the payroll tax to pay for it, those with incomes of over $250,000 would pay more,and Premium's would be removed across the board. A middle class person would be paying more if they currently contributed less than 2.2% of their income to their monthly Premium's under that plan, and they would be paying less under that plan if they were contributing more than 2.2% of their income to their Premium's.
Stop all the pharmaceutical companies from charging 1000+ times what it cost to make the drugs would be a good start. Trump should do to them what he did to Boeing, saying, I think they should make money, just NOT that much. They dropped their prices on the contract if I remember right.
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