ABC News this week is focusing on health reform. Dr. Crounse, Senior Director of Worldwide health wrote a post on his blog not too long ago, which
you can read here:
Affordable Healthcare Insurance—Say What?
Watch the coverage this evening, this question will be running front and center.
You would have to be living under a rock not to be aware of how badly we need reform and a new plan and some new paradigms to enter the picture as well. There is a lot technology has to offer to substantiate some of the savings we are all looking for, and it required the word “change’ to have a substantial part in our vocabulary too. Implementation is important as well and to create a successful transition, we need education first and the ability to learn a few new tricks along the way, to allow business models to evolve and change with the times. I covered Dr. Crounse's post and added my 100 cents (not 2 because we need more than that today). Right now we are at the crossroads of facing a sinking ship along the way if changes with both payers and technology are not substantially recalculated and reformed. BD
Politicians like to couple the adjectives "accessible" and "affordable" with the words "health care" when describing the goals of health care reform. They say that with reform, all Americans will have access to affordable health "insurance."
I'd like to suggest that we eliminate the term "insurance" when talking about health care.
Watch "ABC News Primetime: Questions for the President -- Prescription for America," Wednesday, June 24, at 10 p.m. ET
Insurance protects us from experiencing an unexpected loss that is greater than our ability or willingness to pay. I spend thousands of dollars a year on homeowner's insurance to protect me from financial catastrophe should my house be destroyed by fire or an earthquake. I spend thousands more to insure my automobiles against theft and collision. In both cases, I am pooling my money with tens of thousands or perhaps hundreds of thousands of other people to protect me from a loss that statistically only happens to a very few of those who are insured.
When it comes to discussing health care, I think politicians should start using a word other than insurance, and they certainly need to get rid of "affordable" in the same sentence. Yes, there's plenty of room to make health care "less expensive."
Health care reform should not be debated without a healthy dose of "tough love" on basic economics and a whole lot more details about what we'll really be getting with reform. And for goodness sake, let's stop talking about "affordable" insurance.
Dr. Bill Crounse is senior director of Worldwide Health for Microsoft Corporation.
Can Health Insurance Really Be 'Affordable'? - ABC News
Related Reading:
I am a health insurance agent in Utah. I sit on the board of the Utah health underwriters as webmaster for http://www.bcbstx.info/ and http://www.utahinsuranceexchange.info/. I was heavily involved in designed a web connector to help Utah residents by pulling private and state sponsored insurance mechanisms together. It had a low budget of around $150k that virtually guaranteed health insurance coverage through either the private or state programs. Better yet all the local carriers agreed to split the costs. Our state insurance task force committee rejected the idea. They elected to go for a Massachusetts type connector program that isn't working well when you actually dig deep and check facts of where they are now. Our state approved H.B. 188 with a zero fiscal note attachment! My point is, I have been a fly on the wall in countless legislative meetings, insurance board meetings, hospital board meetings, the list goes on. The problem is conflict with the market demanding profit in all sectors of the system. Tough order to fill and keep costs down? You are absolutely right when you claim that healthcare is now unsustainable. I have been crying that a long time. Nobody listens.
ReplyDeletevery good articles
ReplyDeletesee my bloginsuranceonworld