Where Do We Go from Here? POLL

[Life Hawk]

Given the epic fail of the Senate bill, where do we go from here?

Government involvement at this level will yield results counter productive in about every way imaginable... I think of how well the government and political policies have impacted our school system... now carry that over to health care and if you are younger... you have a picture of what you can look forward to.

It all goes back to that age old wise expression, "Follow the money."

 

[somarco]

Reinsurance is used all over in the insurance world. Saying it should never have been part of the overhaul is asking the health insurance system to play by a different set of rules. I

The govt should not be running the reinsurance program. The way it was set up was a joke. If carriers that wanted to play in that market wanted reinsurance they should purchase it in the private market.

If we don't subsidize by income how are lower income families supposed to afford the rates?

Maybe if the govt had not conspired to "fix" health care, make care and insurance more affordable, stimulate increased competition and allowing you to keep your plan and your doctor low income subsidies would not have been needed.

Wow. Just discovered when you put someone on ignore not only do their posts disappear but so do their posts that were quoted.

 

[benneaf]

They couldn't increase competition unless they suddenly pull a bunch of new health insurance companies out of their rectum. ...er...I mean unless they undid a lot of the mergers that have happened over the last 30+ years. That goes for both health insurance companies and hospitals. The "competition" argument should have been made 40 years ago. How do we create competition now when outside the big 5 there are basically just a few small regional players?

 

[Life Hawk]

Competition always leads to consumers receiving better choices and more choices... but in the long run capitalism is build on a "small" government chassis. Now government is trying to "solve" your problems the way "they" believe they should be. In sort... competition like this on a national level takes large capital base to even get started... once incentive was removed we are now left with the "big boys" on the block. Health care has changed for ever, and will probably continue to morph as the political winds change.

A slippery slope and we are at a point of no return. A populace that is largely ignorant and led about by the emotional reporting that couldn't find a fact if it jumped up and bit them in their posteriors.

 

[somarco]

Health care has changed for ever,

How has health care changed, positive or negative, because of Obamacare?

 

[junkman]

We have no competition in healthcare because insureds only look at their out of pocket costs. Friends of mine have incurred multiple claims for joint replacements - say two hips or knees etc. They only consider out of pocket costs and whether the provider is in network. By far the most significant consideration is provider reputation for competency with cost having absolutely nothing to do with it. Also, people schedule as many procedures to happen in the same year to incur only one out of pocket. A hip replacement currently costs upwards of $55,000 x2 = $110,000. ACA HDHP out of pocket is $6,400 for the lowest premium plan.

@benneaf: I stand by my assertion that group medical carriers are looking at the same claims. Send the 3 carriers currently in this market locally 2 or 3 years of claims & enrollment data and see how close their offers are to the renewal. It has become very difficult to get significantly different rates if you properly adjust for differences in plan design or run-in etc.

Regarding MedSup carriers, they still can play games like setting up separate claims & pricing pools and raise the rates in one pool and allow the healthy to bail to another when the current pool becomes uncompetitive. They also have different underwriting requirements for anyone not in the GI period, use underwriting to control claims and consequently, underwriting becomes a form of competition.

Re: retail vs network prices, Quest typically sets retail at 3 - 4 times the network rate and does not negotiate retail procedure prices. I've personally refused to pay their bill without a discount and waited until they sent the claim to collections. I ended up paying the claim before it hit my credit bureau. I don't intend to borrow money but things like my P&C coverage are affected by credit reports.

 

[Life Hawk]

How has health care changed, positive or negative, because of Obamacare?

There are many facets to this issue, but a huge one is the amount of politicalization of heath care in general it has created. We keep placing more and more distance between the patients and their doctors. As the mandates begin to pile up, so do the effects on the system. Politicians and lawyers now make more and more major decisions on provision of care... that sounds ominous don't you think?

To be quite frank Mrs. Pelosi's idea of passing the bill and then looking to see what's in it... seems to be Washington's idea of good doctoring. I'm glad my doctor doesn't prescribe medication like politicians vote... without reading the label first.

Hmm... I am sure when my dad and mom where young they never equated their health care with who they elected... not that way anymore.

 

[somarco]

You are conflating health CARE with health INSURANCE.

Health care really hasn't changed much beyond the additional bureaucracy associated with Obamacare.

Access to health care has changed considerably because of Obamacare.

And health insurance is no longer insurance but a commodity. A very expensive commodity.

 

[Life Hawk]

You are conflating health CARE with health INSURANCE.

And that is what is exactly wrong with the system... they now become one and the same.

Much like Medicare what the government allows and dictates how it is covered. Med Sups that follow original Medicare or Advantage Plans that administer Medicares "back office" for them but follow mandates. (Socialized Medicine... government controlled.. not just regulated.)

Obamacare has finished off what HMO's where established to do... "Manage Care". Only now your approval will soon come from Washington politics not businesses that must remain competitive and viable.

And as to the change in health care, you obviously are not reading the tea leaves well. Death Panels where laughed at not so long ago... when did your parents ever discuss Death Panels in their day, or you up until recently. These discussion alone are sign of things to come... change is here and there is more coming. We are on a fast track to what Europe has and I've heard those horror stories from some of clients.

 

[benneaf]

Ahhh...the old "socialized Medicine" argument. Socialized medicine is where the government owns the hospitals and employs the doctors. Britian's system is socialized, or the VA. Our system is no where close to socialized...and I don't think it ever will be. I don't think for profit hospital chains would ever just hand the reigns over to the government. It's a silly argument that if there are regulations by the government its socialism. It's like saying if you slice an apple you have an orange. It just makes no sense.

Oh...and Sarah Palin's "death panels...." So doctors get paid to do services right? There is no line item that can be billed for doctors to sit down with patients and explain what a DNR is and that they might want to sit down with a lawyer and draft a will and possibly a DNR. So the ACA was originally going to provide a line item that could be billed for such a discussion. And this was, for political purposes, called a "death panel."

If you want to add anything germaine or logical to the conversation or discuss what your solution might be instead of just spouting off nonesense the please go ahead. I'd love to discuss intelligent proposals.