A moment of history maybe upon us - How do we reconcile the blue dogs needs to avoid public option and still support the 80 % President Obama says is agreed upon by an overwhelming majority and A liberals need to have public option now? These seem to be polar opposites with only solution of killing healthcare reform altoghether by either side.
The perfect solution for the ins. industry! But I have a possible solution. Bring back universal payer to the table thru trigger option which is currently not acceptable to public option side as there should be no need to wait for the reforms so badly needed. This makes the private industry actually perform baseed on specific benchmarks which are time bound or the automatic trigger comes up of instituting universal health!!!!
The need for healthcare reform is urgent based on finances of our country demanding it. There needs to be a specific time based reform which results in actual cost savings and improvement in our health. If these benchmarks are met, the private insurance industry is already set up and has a good chance to avoid extinction. If these benchmarks are entered into with bad intentions and are never met, a new system is needed anyways as they will then have proven without reservation, their incompetence to achieve results of significant change and need to be put aside to allow a proven method of healthcare delivery as shown the world over - that of universal single payer healthcare.
To this end, our reform bill should have "plain english pt. bill of rights"
1)NO denial of healthcare coverage. In other words no pre-existing condition or new health condition based denial of coverage.
2)NO private or government person between the patient and doctor denying services based on rules or regulations not posted online.
3)Plain language simplified list of covered benefits and list of benefits NOT covered. Also, to see medical insurance rules and requirements posted online for various services and meds.
4)Transparent posted insurance rates provided thru an insurance exchange.
5)NO further copayments or coinsurance paid to medical providers- the insurance companies may specify specific limitations on freq. of various coverages allowed anually. This would simplify the money in healthcare and decrease the costs of billing and collecting.
6)Patients will have even the basic insurance policies covering preventative care.
7)Patients will see charges for each service posted online based on time or complexity of the services offered prior to services being rendered - At least in a range of possibilities- in other words get a good faith ESTIMATE when they request it.
8)Patients will get options to get medications on the open market. In other words, they may buy medications online from anywhere in the world as long as they are approved by the FDA and they have had their manufacturing cleared by the FDA.
9)Patients should be able to see how much varoius providers have gotten in marketing/consulting fees etc... from pharmaceuticals.
10)Patients should be able to see how much their insurance company pays for each of their services in comparison to other insurances companies paying for the same services and knowing how long it takes for the providers to be paid.
Back to the benchmark triggers to meet and avoid unvirsal payor. Imagine a negotiated set of health and finacial parameters our country needs to meet to avoid universal care. These need to be met within a short term of the next few years only.
By the way republicans playing only politics who say all day the dems are not offering anything in terms of compromise should be put to task about exactly what strong principals they are ready to compromise on.