Is Affordable Healthcare Possible?

Currently Congressional leaders are battling each other in an effort to come up with a suitable revision or repeal of The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act also known as Obamacare.

So far not much has been accomplished and I doubt that any plan that is eventually passed will cover every living human being in the USA.

Someone always falls through the cracks.

I hate to be so cynical but when it comes right down to it “one size fits all” that seldom works when you’re dealing with government.

What Stays And What Goes?

It seems that the only two things everyone seems to agree on so far is that pre-existing conditions will be covered and children (?) will be covered on their parents policies until age 26.

If I was still hanging around the house at age 26 my parents would have changed the locks or moved without telling me.

No one seems to like the individual mandate that says everyone is forced to buy insurance or pay a fine. Although a Medicare deduction comes out of every workers paycheck — no opt out available there.

We’ll have to wait and see if the mandate stays or goes.

Affordable, Affordable, Affordable

You might have seen a sound bite with House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi saying that word over and over.

But here again we’re dealing with the entire United States — around 320 million people. Make healthcare affordable — affordable to whom?

Should a healthy 27-year old pay the same premium as someone with diabetes and a bad heart? Sounds fair to the guy with that bad heart but the 27 year old might ask, “Why am I paying the same as that guy?”

Fair patient costs, and hospital and doctor reimbursement fees, is a tall order to come up with a system that sends everyone home happy.

Some Final Thoughts

Why did our parents and grandparents pay so much less for insurance than we do now?

Well the diagnostic equipment is much better than what your parents had but it’s expensive. Health insurance providers prior to Obamacare did not cover pre-existing medical conditions.

Many people didn’t go to the doctor as often because their diets and exercise lifestyle was better. And, there weren’t a battery of lawyers hanging out in hospitals to file malpractice suits against doctors.

So doctor’s order more tests than might be needed just to cover their butts and that drives up costs too.

Congress can argue and vote till the cows come home but it’s almost a certainty that whatever they pass will open some trapdoors for someone.

More than likely they will have to pass it to find out what’s actually in it. Sound familiar?

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