Governement Healthcare...

[PrincessFiona]

Just one more reason to NOT trust the plan! LOL

Kris

[Sheherezade]

AMA fact sheet link on their support for the House plan:

http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/advo...m-reform.shtml

[bokelley]

Just one more reason to NOT trust the plan! LOL

Kris

[ladymoreta]

More information from IBD:

http://www.ibdeditorials.com/IBDArti...32548165656854

So, does anyone know if this is still in there? Surely the bill could never pass if it makes getting your own private insurance illegal. It will have to come out, but why did they put it in there to begin with?

Change of subject, but I found this poll on CNN: http://money.cnn.com/POLLSERVER/results/47471.html. It asks "Would you be willing to pay more in taxes for the promise of reducing your health care costs?" As of this posting, 2/3 of the votes are No. Kind of interesting that people are so in favor of "reform", as long as they don't have to pay for it. (Yeah, I know it's not a good survey, since it's voluntary, and the participants are people who read business news, but still, I found it amusing...)

[Pollyanna]

Change of subject, but I found this poll on CNN: http://money.cnn.com/POLLSERVER/results/47471.html. It asks "Would you be willing to pay more in taxes for the promise of reducing your health care costs?" As of this posting, 2/3 of the votes are No. Kind of interesting that people are so in favor of "reform", as long as they don't have to pay for it. (Yeah, I know it's not a good survey, since it's voluntary, and the participants are people who read business news, but still, I found it amusing...)

I don't think anyone is opposed to reform, just the current "reform" being suggested.

[Sheherezade]

So, does anyone know if this is still in there? Surely the bill could never pass if it makes getting your own private insurance illegal. It will have to come out, but why did they put it in there to begin with?

From the AMA fact sheet:



Does H.R. 3200 make private insurance illegal?

There have been some misleading press reports on this issue. The legislation does not make
private insurance illegal. Rather, it regulates health insurance coverage and, except for some
“grandfathered” existing policies, individual coverage could only be offered through the Health
Insurance Exchange established by the bill. (The Health Insurance Exchange is a regulated
market place for people to purchase private coverage that meets minimum criteria.) In fact, the
legislation would make great strides in regulating insurers so that they treat patients and
providers more fairly.




So...that was an inaccurate representation of the bill (according to the AMA).

[PrincessFiona]

I guess I just don't understand. If you have insurance you keep that plan? If not you can only purchase a health exchange plan? What happens to people who lose or switch their jobs? They are auto
atically covered by the exchange and then can't opt back in to a private plan?

Kris

[DCJenn]

the way I understand it is that you always will have the option of participating in the private insurance plan offered by your employer or other entity. IF you don't like that plan or don't have that option you can opt into the government plan.

I think it's basically that if you dont' qualify for medicaid or medicare and you don't have employer based options and/or can't afford or don't want to pay for your own (i.e. an individual policy paid for out of pocket) then you have this other option.

J.

[GrayMatterWife]

I guess I just don't understand. If you have insurance you keep that plan? If not you can only purchase a health exchange plan? What happens to people who lose or switch their jobs? They are auto
atically covered by the exchange and then can't opt back in to a private plan?

Kris

If you have private insurance you will be able to keep it. But, that's just a short-term assurance of private insurance. Eventually, what will happen is that private insurance will not be able to compete with the lesser-caliber public option. The government will have no objective of being profitable. They have no shareholders to answer to. They will have no competion and can pass their own falsely created protections. So, their care will be the cheapest (albeit not the best). Private companies will start "offering" (that is, relying on you choosing) the public option only--as time passes, our care and options will be determined by what the federal government is willing to offer and on their terms. It is a slow but certain conversion to socialized medicine. If this bill becomes law, the best we can hope for is that we elected representatives who will ditch it and deregulate to promote competition. (**sigh** Competition...does anyone remember this concept? The thing that made America great and is responsible for our innovations and standard of living? But, I digress...)

The whole "you can keep your insurance that you have now" line is very misleading.

In addition, there may be small, immediate changes to the way we obtain private insurance now. Among other things, the House is considering including a provision that severely curtails our ability to use pre-tax flexible health spending accounts--which, of course, means a higher effective tax rate.

[oceanchild]

If this bill becomes law, the best we can hope for is that we elected representatives who will ditch it and deregulate to promote competition. (**sigh** Competition...does anyone remember this concept? The thing that made America great and is responsible for our innovations and standard of living? But, I digress...)

But there isn't real competition in health insurance currently. Most employers only offer one plan. There are huge regional differences in what's available. Etc etc.

I still think that competition is not the be all and end all of public good. It works great for some things. Not so much for others.

[DCJenn]

Does anyone actually use their flexible spending accounts? I've never had any reason to use them.

The only people that I know who use them are people who have significant health care needs who would probably benefit from reduced prices in the market more than any pre-tax savings. It's not like anyone in my career field is taxed at any significant rate anyway.

Jenn

[oceanchild]

A lot of people in my office seem to use flexible spending accounts for childcare. I think that's different from health savings accounts. I had the option of one but never used it.

[fluffhead]

We use our FSA, but I think it's the stupidest thing imagineable. I'm supposed to guess how much I'm going to spend during the year, and then at the end of the year I have to go on a shopping spree, buying gallons of tylenol to use up our money, or else we LOSE IT????
What is this, Las Vegas moves to Washington DC?

[DCJenn]

The childcare accounts I've seen people use but not the health care spending.

J/

[mommax3]

We use ours, most recently to pay for braces, but have also used it for contacts/contact solution and could use it (I think) for any elective cosmetic-type stuff (not that I need any of that) that insurance wouldn't cover.

DH and I are trying to follow all of the developments of this plan, but truthfully, we are having a hard time. All I know is that to DH, insurance companies are the bad guys. (Actually, they are second, after personal injury attorneys.)