Health Insurance
Posted on June 22, 2009
Filed Under Politics | Comments Off
So I haven’t posted about this topic much since the debate between single payer vs. competition, I thought the debate was pretty much over when the voters choose competition over single payer in the democratic primary but apparently, this issue is still huge.
Now I’m a skeptic, I don’t think that if everyone was forced into buying into a plan that a majority would be happy (or even content) and when you go to countries like Europe or Canada you can tell that some people love it but other people hate it. From long lines to being forced to pay for necessary surgery only because a one a day pill is technically cheaper single payer systems don’t work, but there’s no question as to why every major health insurance company has been running off to capitol hill advocating for such a plan.
As it currently stands each individual is ranked based on previous doctor visits, current health defects and the possibility that in the future more problems will arise. The greatest fault of the American system right now is that if you don’t get insurance through your workplace in your contract is likely a clause that states they can drop you for whatever reason whenever they want. They claim that because of the way our system is setup the fraud people are committing (which is getting sick while on their plan) is destroying their bottom line (not the billions of dollars they bribe politicians with). What’s the point of health insurance if you can be dropped at anytime? I can see now why my dad wanted to continue working instead of trying to buy a health insurance plan in the private market, because the private market isn’t going to help you even if you pay all your premiums. To think that a single payer system (where everyone is forced to give private companies control over their health) is going to change this strategy is laughable, only instead of only a few people being screwed we will all have an equal opportunity to get completely screwed over if we ever get sick. What they offer isn’t even really insurance, it’s a monthly statement demanding money for something they’ll never feel obligated to pay and it would actually be a heck of a lot better for their bottom line if you passed on instead of wasting all their precious profits trying to live (just make sure you don’t live long enough to see a court room). I can tell you right now, if I were self or unemployed as a 23 year old I wouldn’t give these assholes a dime, considering they’d just cancel my coverage as soon as I got sick, and the law won’t stand by my side (and it will actually only work against me), I’d throw a fit if I were forced to pay into that kind of a system, and it’s not like it would help me either way.
What we need is an insurance plan for people that is actually for the people and not for giant multi-national corporate whores. I don’t mind that they exist, but I believe we should all have the option to choose a plan that won’t cancel you the minute you get a cough. Or what about that pre-existing condition crap that actually costs us billions of dollars every year because health insurance providers don’t actually want to help people who are on their plan but when they were 12 had a little asthma so this leg injury can’t possibly be covered. What do you think happens to the cancer patient that needs radiation or will die? It’s against the law to refuse them life saving or pain revealing treatments, because a long time again the generation before us thought it a crime that anyone suffer in a country with so much. Who pays for that treatment? The government, which is to say all our tax dollars. So what’s the problem with the government taking a little money from people who disagree with being dropped from their health insurance to be actually insured so they won’t feel like they need to spend hours in the emergency room? It’s going to be on our dime regardless of your opinion, the only sane option is to attempt to sell these people some kind of insurance so when they do spend our money it won’t cost as much, it should be made clear that no option will completely negate government spending if we still believe people of our nation shouldn’t suffer for no reason (however I welcome that argument, please make sure you start off with why you hate humanity). If we can agree that every plan will result in government spending we should be debating on how to lower those costs, since the private market cannot be trusted unless you’re rich and famous and is more likely to care only about profits and not customers (the law is with them on this one).
This debate is exactly what I thought the election was supposed to fix, I thought we were going to have a government plan without a 200 page contract that will offer real health insurance at a ‘competitive’ price (making sure that everyone can afford it regardless of health conditions). If we move to a system where everyone is forced by law to pay into a broken system it’s not going to magically fix the broken system, it’s only going to swallow our money up and demand more to fix the problem, and more to their liking if it’s again mandated by law. Nothing helps an industry more than forcing everyone to buy into it, but that’s called fascism, and from what I understand goes against capitalism (though again, I’m open to debate). More competition will keep people honest, and for people like myself who don’t want to give health insurance companies a dime for the non-service they preform I can sleep better at night, because if I get fired for whatever reason in the future I can actually buy insurance that isn’t going to drop me because I had some indigestion a few years ago. That’s what scares me the most, if I have some kind of more serious problem will I ever be able to get help if I see a doctor? Or will I forever be told “well, it’s cheaper for you to take this pill with weird side effects for the rest of your life”? We need cures, not band-aids, competition, not mandatory private insurance. Plus, why can’t we give the health insurance we give our congressmen, who died and made them king?
Powered by FireStats