Healthcare Finish Line

One year after Obama assumed the office of the Presidency, Congress is closing in on the finish line for healthcare. There is no question that there are things within the healthcare industry that need fixing. However, creating a nationalized health care system is not the answer! A couple of states have tried to institute government sponsored healthcare including Massachusetts. On Tuesday, a special election to fill Sen. Kennedy's Senate seat will occur and the issue most prominent has been healthcare. Massachusetts, which has only 11% of the voting population registered as Republicans is by far the bluest state in the union. But in spite of that, Republican candidate Brown has come from a 30 point deficit to dead even on the weekend before the election.
Polling data indicate that the people of Massachusetts are very unhappy with their government mandated health care program. The government program has cost almost 20% more than anticipated and premiums for all health insurance in the state have increased dramatically. A majority of the people in Massachusetts currently oppose their own mandated healthcare system.

There are solutions to the problems within our health care system such as pre-existing conditions and losing healthcare coverage. These problems can be solved by allowing civic groups or churches or business associations or other such organizations to set up group policies whereby the group can spread the risk of all of its members and therefore provide the same kind of benefit relative to pre-existing conditions that businesses now have in their group policies. Additionally, if insurance companies could compete across state lines this would also open up competition thereby reducing the cost of insurance. One other consideration to keep costs down would be to provide insurance from a catastrophic perspective and not first dollar coverage. By providing first dollar coverage we increase the likelihood of people using insurance to meet their most mundane and unserious health conditions thereby raising the cost of health insurance for everyone. If individuals were responsible for their first dollar coverage upfront, making their own decisions, about when to see the doctor, and having coverage for catastrophic events the cost of insurance could decline significantly. And of course it goes without saying that the cost of litigating in the healthcare industry is a tremendous drain on the cost of providing medical care. Tort reform will not solve the medical insurance problem however it is one of those items that need to be addressed if we are going to come to a solution for healthcare in America. All of these solutions can be achieved without a nationalized health care system.

So the question is will this Congress and this administration be the first to cross the finish line of healthcare, or will it be the American people that want the freedom to keep and maintain their own healthcare and insurance. The election in Massachusetts could well determine the fate of Obama care.

Your thoughts?