The One With The Affordable Care

This is a health care related post - so if you get bored with these, just disregard. There won't be any fun pictures of the kids (although a post about our weekend trip to the MK nature center will be coming soon) and while it may be interesting to some, it may be boring to others. My thoughts are that it's unfair to have an opinion on something unless you have researched what it is about. I find this rings true with health care as well - it seems that everyone has an opinion, especially when it comes to health care reform. But if my current classmates are an indication of how educated the entire nation is on health care, we are SURE in for some TROUBLE! There seem to be a select few in the class that either have a fairly comprehensive understanding of things or at least will put forth the effort to figure it all out . . . . the rest just complain about this and that and lace that with complete misunderstandings.

SOOOO, this debate often comes up in our class, and this is an often spoken statement "Health care should be cheaper."

I've found this statement annoys me. Not necessarily because it is wrong. It's not. Health care should be cheaper. But without any thing to support it, it's  dud. You gotta bring something else in with it! How do you think health care should be less? And for that matter, what is cheaper??? That's a fairly vague and ambiguous phrase if you ask me. What's cheaper? Ten dollars? That's cheaper, but is it really cheap enough?

Health care should be affordable!!!

Affordable for who?? Affordable for the insured? Affordable for the hospital? Affordable so that every dud on the street can have the same health care as the wealthy?

Now I LOVE healthy debate on this subject - healthy meaning both sides (my side, and whoever is wrong. . . . jk) have educated responses. There's nothing fun about fighting with someone who has the arguing mentalities of a two year-old. "Health care should be cheaper!!" "What's cheap?" "CHEAP is cheap." Okay  . . . . now go stand in the corner.

For everyone who says health care should be "CHEAP-ER", here's a brain teaser for you! And don't think I'm down on anyone, I happen to agree, I think health care SHOULD be cheaper, I just think most Americans don't understand business practices (because HELLO, health care IS a business) and how making something CHEAPER can lead to  . . . . BANKRUPTCY!!!

How would you make health care more affordable?? Keep in mind the three parts of health care in this equation. You have the insured - people like you and me, whether it's government insurnace, private insurance, group insurance (meaning coming from an employer), there's also the insurance companies, and hospitals.

People seem to have MAJOR frustration with presidents, both past and present, about their attempts, or lack thereof, to tackle making health care affordable. Well, are you ready to hear what makes it so difficult??

Seriously, are you ready?
Cause this will blow your mind!!

OPTION 1: Force hospitals/doctor's office to lower medical costs. Why are costs what they are? Why do MRI's cost what they do? I know everyone wants to believe that it's because high-falootin CEO's are bringing home the big bucks, and I'm not saying they are poor by any means, BUT medical procedures cost what they do because hosptials have to cover BAD DEBT (ie the debt they incur when people don't have insurance and don't pay their bills). Just because they are a hospital doesn't mean they have unlimited funds to cover paying for every uninsured person be seen for the flu. The room has to be paid for, the doctors, every gauze pad and throat swab, etc etc etc. Bottom line: procedures cost so much becaue hospitals have to cover bad debt - if we force hospitals to lower those costs, they will no longer be able to cover that debt and well go bankrupt . . . . leaving us with no hospitals . . . . and no one wants that.

OPTION 2: Force insurance companies to lower their premiums. Seems like a dandy idea right? I know I sure don't like paying so much money every month for health care premiums, it's a real drag, I'd way rather use the money to make monthly paymetns on a Cadillac . . . . or a house in the Hamptons. Why are insurance premiums high? Insurance premiums cost what they do because when we meet our deductibles, the insurance company has to pay out EVERYTHING else to the hospital. So those expensive medical procedures we were just talking about, yeah, just because we hit our deductible and don't pay for them, doesn't mean NO ONE is paying for them. Premiums go into a HUGE pot and then when a bill has to be paid for ANY insured, it comes out of that money. If we force insurance companies to lower their premiums they will no longer be able to pay for procedures. . . . . and they will go bankrupt . . . . leaving us without insurance companies, and no one wants to pay for ALL of their procedures by themselves.

OPTION 3: Force everyone to have health insurance. Now this is what is currently the case with Health Care Reform. It is believed that by requiring everyone to have health insurance, hospitals will be able to lessen their bad debt, and insurance premiums will decrease because of it. Which on one had is most likely true. BUT, as everyone is SO quick to point out, not EVERYONE has the financial capacity to pay for the high cost of health insurance. Currently, the idea is to EXPAND Medicaid coverage, which sounds great, right? Give more money out to people who don't have health insurance. Make sure you keep in mind where that money is coming from. The only way to increase the number of people who are receiving Medicaid is to increase TAXES. Which means you and me will be paying MORE money into those systems to cover the additional people who need it . . . . which could leave me bankrupt. . . . and those people who still don't fall under Medicaid and HAVE to pay for insurance could also go bankrupt . . . . furthering the recession adn maybe even starting a depression.

RECAP: Hospitals charge so much because they have to cover the bad debt, they have bad debt because people don't have health insurance, people don't have health insurance because it is too expensive, health insurance is expensive because they have to pay for the high cost of medical treatments hich are so expensive because hospitals must cover bad debt . . . . and the circle continues and continues.

SOOOOO - where would YOU break into the market to make health care more "affordable" for everyone? And do you see now why so many Presidents have either tried and failed, or ran away from health care reform?