Friday, June 19, 2009

Q&A on Healthcare Reform

CNN has a nice Q&A about Obama's healthcare reform plan. I don't think anyone would argue that we desperately need to overhaul our existing healthcare system. Here are some snippets that I'd like to highlight (and offer my comments):
  • Nearly 46 million Americans have no insurance, and 25 million more are underinsured.(this number seems to climb each year and will certainly rise as unemployment goes up)
  • ... many employers have stopped offering insurance to employees because of the high cost. (rising insurance costs are killing small businesses)
  • A central point of the president's plan is to create a government-sponsored health insurance program that would be an option for all Americans, similar to how Medicare is now an option for Americans over age 65. (some level of care is better than no care. what will this do to managed care?)
  • If you receive high-quality health insurance from your employer, Obama said, his plan won't change that, and you can still keep your insurance and your doctors. (don't expect many changes if you already have good coverage)
  • Obama said at the Green Bay town hall meeting that under his reforms, no insurance plan "would be able to deny coverage on the basis of pre-existing conditions," but he didn't explain how he would force insurance companies to insure people with pre-existing health problems. (if you have a pre-existing condition, you may get coverage, but it may cost you too)
  • In the United States, every person spends on average $6,714 for health care. (do you know how much of this is due to unnecessary tests?)
Want to read the entire CNN article? Click here.

1 comment:

  1. I always read about this thing on unneeded testing. We all know why doctors do that; because if they don't, they're fodder for the more greedy of us who sue them for malpractice is something is misdiagnosed.

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