Obama transition health care e-forum for Waccobb community: question 4

[Dynamique]

Q: In addition to employer-based coverage, would you like the option to purchase a private plan through an insurance-exchange or a public plan like Medicare?

Response from in-person forum:
We should get rid of employer-based coverage. Employer based coverage is the second biggest problem in our healthcare system. The whole model is dysfunctional and out-dated. Cobra is not the solution to the problem either. The price is exorbitant, especially when you don’t have an income. For those who are not employees they pay outrageous monthly premiums, if you can get insurance. This is not acceptable!

We do not want the option of purchasing anything privately based, such as an insurance-exchange. A modified Medicare is preferable, with expanded community based modifications (as outlined in answers 2 and 3).

[Bryan]

As far as I can tell, the vast numbers of private insurance companys simply use the Medicare reimbursement amounts to decide how much to pay doctors and hospitals. They may pay 10% over Medicare for example for the vast majority of services.

As such, private insurance is a joke - they charge as much as possible and keep as much as possible in their pocket. In one recent year, Blue Cross moved over $1 billion in premiums OUT of California to help them buy other insurance companies. The employers who pay for these policies have no idea how little the doctors and hospitals actually get in exchange for these premiums.

The small local HMOs such as Redwood were unable to compete with Kaiser on premiums, and then made horrible business decisions in negotiating with doctor's groups. Hence, they went out of business and now there are no real options in health insurance.

If the people knew that that insurance companies regularly underpay most doctors and hospitals (and sometimes give huge amounts to large hospital chains that have virtual monopolies in certain areas) , they would be outraged.

I believe because of employer paid health care, the average person does not know how this goes on because it is seen as just part of their employment package. As the going insurance programs become more co-pay oriented, they are still insulated from people really analysing where their money is going, to the benefit of the insurance companies.

In the long term, the medical communities gave up control over their financial future by failing to control costs. The insurance companies now use Medicare to justify their own low reimbursement rates. And the doctors and hospitals have fewer choices on how to stay in business.

[Braggi]

As far as I can tell, the vast numbers of private insurance companys simply use the Medicare reimbursement amounts to decide how much to pay doctors and hospitals. They may pay 10% over Medicare for example for the vast majority of services. ...

"Private" insurance companies have failed the test of the "free" market by cheating customers as well as "providers" of actual health services while enriching themselves to gross levels. All this has been accomplished with the help of bribed public officials and union bosses. It's time to realize as a country that national single payer is the only reasonable solution. The current system is so broken it's unfixable. We need to put the people who produce nothing but paperwork headaches out of business.

It's also time to ultra-simplify the income tax, institute a national sales tax, and fire all the tax accountants and lawyers that do nothing but eat up the nation's wealth while producing nothing of value. That's another (but related) topic.

-Jeff