Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Assembly Speaker Fabian Nuñez claim they are close to a deal on healthcare reform that will require every Californian to prove they have a private health insurance policy - but does not cap how much insurers can charge for it. Hillary Clinton's health plan, released last week, would require all Americans to have health insurance, also with no cap on premiums.
The goal of universal healthcare plans, including the one Clinton designed while first lady, has been to rein in waste and profiteering, then redistribute the savings to the public in the form of guaranteed healthcare. But these new "post-partisan" plans have been stripped of all effective cost containment. They simply force businesses, individuals and taxpayers to pick up the tab. Apparently, if you can't beat the medical-insurance complex, join it. If it passes, the new system could be in place next year.
Under the proposed California compromise, employers will have to pay a share, but the ultimate responsibility lies with the individual. Policies for the poor would be subsidized, but taxpayers surely would be overcharged to boost corporate profits: Insurance premiums have increased 78% since 2001, compared with a 17% increase in inflation.
Health insurance is so unaffordable today precisely because no one is watching costs. With regulation of all medical charges, insurance would be cheaper and people might want to buy it. But Sacramento politicians already refused to standardize what doctors, hospitals, drug companies and insurers charge.
Rather than sweeping “reforms,” The Stiletto suggests more modest steps, such as requiring insurance providers to comply with HIPPA-style regulations for all policies, forbidding post-claims underwriting and providing a tax credit that would give middle class taxpayers a meaningful offset for the cost self-insurance.
Once an appreciable dent has been made in the number of working Americans who cannot afford to purchase health insurance, it would be nice if healthcare providers did not charge $50 for every Tylenol dispensed in the hospital to push the costs of providing medical care to the undocumented and the uninsured onto everyone else.
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
