Why? Why should the very people who were told they were pricing their services beyond what the market could bear for years be allowed to come up with a solution their greed caused?
Why should the CEO of WelPoint or Assurant, Inc. along with AHIP be at these house parties? What meaningful, creative advice could they possibly impart? Why are the AHA and the AMA getting play time? They haven't headed off much of the crisis either. In fact, they have caused a share of the pain.
This is bothersome. Why should the likes of AHIP, WellPoint and Assurant or the AMA and AHA get to go to the party and people like DrSteveB, nyceve or DemFromCT aren't invited? Is anyone from the dkos community invited to any of these house parties? If so, speak up and tell us about it.
No one has an invite?
That's what I thought.
That's a mistake that we need to rectify before it happens.
Do we not make enough noise? Don't we have enough credentials? The reality is that many of the people who write on health care here at dkos have plenty of work experience and credentials to speak at the health care reform negotiations. Yes, some of us have a fully disclosed point of view, but does that mean we shouldn't contribute to the search for solutions? We have the M.D.'s, D.O's and R.N.'s and we have the administrators with the MHSA's and MPH's and we have credentialed paper pushers with CCS's, CPC's and RHIA's, but chances are high we we'll be at best ignored at worst discounted as "uninformed". Hog Wash!
Health care is a very complex issue that up until 2008, many thought was best left to the experts. The "experts" have taken down the road to nearly 16% (soon to be 17%-18%) of our population not being able to participate in our health care programs and annual spending in the $2.4 trillion range. Small businesses are sure to increase in numbers in the wake of the economic collapse, but will they be able to offer health insurance benefits? To date, their biggest headache is health care. (link below will not embed).
http://money.cnn.com/...
Small business sees health care as a problem, but their idea of a solution is unique to their point of view. NFIB has signed onto Wyden's SHOP. The problem is that these for profit organizations actually think there is a for profit solution. They like the idea of medical tourism. They assume that for profit insurer's can "fix" their problem. It would be laughable if it weren't so deadly serious.
Unfortunately, the Obama-Biden transition team is also convinced that strengthening the for profit health insurers will actually go a long way toward solving the health care crisis in the U.S. I voted for Obama because I thought his solutions were far better than McCain's, but that doesn't mean Obama is going to get a free pass on health care and I stand by my original criticism of Obama. Obama, Health Insurance Isn't Health Care! The transition site has a section that says:
Expand Coverage to All Americans:
• Build upon and strengthen employer coverage;
• Allow people to keep the coverage that they have and maintain patients’ choice of doctor;
• Establish a National Health Insurance Exchange that offers a range of private insurance options as well as a
new public plan option;
• Require insurance companies to cover pre-existing conditions so all Americans regardless of their health
status or history can get comprehensive benefits at fair and stable premiums;
• Expand Medicaid and SCHIP and provide sliding-scale premium assistance for low-income people.
The bold section needed emphasis.
To go back to the NYT article, how can the same set of people who caused this problem solve it?
With health insurance premiums rising this decade at four times the rate of inflation, and draining a growing share of personal income, middle-class support for an overhaul would seem to be reaching critical mass. If a broad swath of Americans feel destabilized enough by health costs, their demands for relief could help marginalize the kind of opposition from entrenched interests that has killed previous efforts.
What do health insurers want? Well, they will give a little, but they want a lot in return.
The health insurance industry said Wednesday it will support a national health care overhaul that requires them to accept all customers, regardless of pre-existing medical conditions — but in return it wants lawmakers to mandate that everyone buy coverage.
Ok, they will go for getting rid of pre-existing conditions, but everyone must buy insurance at rates "profitable" for the health insurer. Like, that's a concession? Oh, please.
- A mandate to buy insurance without a guarantee that everyone will be able to access the care after they are forced to buy the insurance is worthless.
- A mandate to buy insurance without a provision to supplement people who can't afford the co-pays will fall short of humanity's goal, but will undoubtedly be called The Health Insurance Bailout Bill.
- A mandate that forces people to buy worthless junk insurance is cruel.
- A mandate to buy insurance without a plan to increase the number of providers is going to get a lot of people who want care, but no one to give it to them.
This issue is far too important to leave to the lobbyiests, health insurance CEO's, AHIP, the AMA and AHA to decide. We need comprehensive reform. It's more than finance, it must also include a plan to increase the number of providers to handle the increased demand for care.
That isn't in AHIP's, Assurant's or WellPoint's play book. Increased delivery of care will decrease profits. That's not in the AMA's or AHA's play book, true it will reduce uncompensated care and charity care, but it will increase the numbers of patent encounters and the patient daily census in the hospital. They'll get more money, but they will need more staff and again, that will lead to less profit.
No, we need someone in there that's going to be looking out for us.
What do "we" want?
Health Care.