COMMENTARY: Let the critique begin . . .
If You Have Health Insurance, the President’s Plan:
Ends discrimination against people with pre-existing conditions.
Good. We agree and applaud this. This should be a simple one.
Limits premium discrimination based on gender and age.
Good. We agree. Community rating for the most part should remove or greatly limit these factors.
Prevents insurance companies from dropping coverage when people are sick and need it most.
Absolutely agree. We have proposed this from day one in our plan.
Caps out-of-pocket expenses so people don’t go broke when they get sick.
Agree in principle, but is problematic in practice. This requires catastrophic health insurance which citizens have to buy (and should buy). Those that cannot afford will it is assumed fall into some expansion of Medicaid or other yet to be defined risk pool.
Eliminates extra charges for preventive care like mammograms, flu shots and diabetes tests to improve health and save money.
What extra charges are these? Not sure we understand. Are you saying that co-pays and deductibles will not be applied to these types of tests? If so, please be specific in what you are saying and enumerate which tests you plan to apply this policy to. Many doctors will not even offer seasonal flu shots because the loose money on giving the shot (reimbursement does not even cover cost of vaccine much less staff costs to administer program).
Protects Medicare for seniors.
Sorry, this generalization just does not cut it. Seniors are older, not stupid. They know full well that you have spoken repeatedly about cuts in Medicare, citing fraud and waste. But one man’s waste is another man’s necessary test. One woman’s fraud is another woman’s attempt to deal with an arbitrary and unyielding bureaucracy. We know there is real waste and fraud. There are laws and processes to deal with that. Please start there. But do not make these generalizations. They insult the intelligence of all Americans.
Eliminates the “donut-hole” gap in coverage for prescription drugs.
Great. We love this. But how is it going to be paid for? Again, we call for all to pay or none. This is the only way that all Americans can feel they are involved in the solutions being offered. Singling out affluent individuals, businesses, or health related industries to be the sole support for these expansions is unfair, foolish and in the end, confirms the belief by many that this administration is covertly or overtly socialist.
The President’s Plan for Health Reform – – http://my.barackobama.com/page/content/hcsignon/?district=LA2&returnlink=false
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