Health Care Reform: The Good, the Bad, the Ugly

[mijan]

The Good: 
- Private health insurance can't deny you for a pre-existing condition under this bill.
- You can't be dropped from a policy because you get sick.
- If you have insurance, they can't "cap" your coverage and say "you've been sick enough now, so we're not paying any more."

The Bad:
- It's not REAL universal health care.  YES, I am "one of those" who fully wants this backwards country to switch to a single-payer system like Canada's system.  I think anything less is a travesty - humiliating and ludicrous.  Time to join the modern world, people.
- Because it's not real UHC, this will do nothing to help the over-complicated network of insurers and the grossly high overhead costs of the health care system.
- Private insurance still rules our health care system.  I'm sorry, but for-profit health "insurance" is a crime against humanity, as far as I'm concerned.
- Nothing to attenuate costs of malpractice insurance, which is putting even GOOD doctors out of business, even if they've never been sued for malpractice.

The Ugly:
- Fining people for not having health insurance.  WTF?!?  I'm sorry, but for the self-employed to have to afford policies on their own when they're BARELY making ends meet... this is going to bankrupt many individuals.  That's STUPID.


Want to chime in with your thoughts?  Go for it, but no flaming.  Civil discourse, please.  Actual facts, please.  Insight from those who live in countries with UHC are welcomed and encouraged to share their experiences.

Comments

[rubymiene.livejournal.com]

The Ugly comes with the Good. You can't have the Good without the Ugly. Otherwise, people would wait until they were already sick to buy insurance, and while premiums are ridiculously high, they do not come close to paying for the full cost of case for someone to have surgery or a round of radiation or a lifetime supply of antiretrovirals. It is not stupid and it is 100% logical. Yes, I agree that single payer would be much better, but that is simply not possible. We will not have single payer until we vote out every single Republican in this country. This is much better than nothing, which is the other choice, both right now and for the next decade at least.
Furthermore, there is absolutely no way that requiring self-employed persons to buy insurance is going to bankrupt them. There is a cap of 8% of income. Subsides are available for those with income of up to $88,000 for a family of four, which is a pretty substantial amount. And the plan increases eligibility for medicaid, which means no family making less than $29,327 will pay *anything*. And none of the penalties kick in for 4 years. If it really looks like low- or middle-income families will be hurt, it can be retooled. Not to mention, the penalty is only $2,085 for four people! (and if you don't have insurance, you're probably going to be bankrupted by medical bills anyway, and those are going to be way higher than $500 a person)
Plus, the plan limits insurance company profits and encourages non-profit coops, and taxes insurance companies directly and taxes incomes over $250,000, all of which is good, progressive tax policy.
BTW, not long ago, I bought catastrophic insurance for a few months, and it cost ~$100 a month, so I think this is totally affordable for young people.

[flamewarrior.livejournal.com]

Oh, good - I was gonna post about the $88,000pa thing, but you got there first.

Not that I'm directly affected - I'm in the UK - I'm just really, really glad that the USA is taking a step in the right direction.