Posts Tagged ‘healthcare’

Overwhelmingly, Americans don’t want the health care reforms coming out of Washington. During the worse economic crisis it’s going to be tough to make the American taxpayer swallow huge penalties for not carrying health insurance, taxes on health insurance plans if you have certain levels of benefits, and funding more bureaucratic mazes than you care to discuss. No one in Washington is listening to the people and the ballot box in 2010 is going to tell what the peoples frustrations really are.

There is little, if any, “bi-partisan” efforts to bring the reforms people want:

• Lower costs of health care
• Lower premium costs of coverages they desire
• Portability of coverage that is not dependent on ones job
• Tax benefits for premiums paid
• Reductions in fraud and waste in Medicare and Medicaid
• Non-denial of coverages due to pre-existing conditions
• Timely claims payments by health insurance companies of all claims submitted
• Better understanding of what benefits are available under health insurance plans

With those things in mind, let’s look at real and bold ideas that will work and do so without dismantling our current health care provider system;

1. Real tort reforms that cap levels of punitive damages juries can award in malpractice cases. The costs of “preventative” medicine to protect our medical personnel from lawsuits will drop dramatically. Costs of malpractice insurance will drop as well. This one initiative alone can reduce health care costs an estimated 20-30%.
2. Tort reform will lower premium costs as will allowing across state line competition of health insurance carriers. Establishing health insurance co-ops will allow people to use the purchasing power of larger groups to obtain their own coverages as their needs might be.
3. With the establishment of Health Savings Accounts NOT dependent on one’s job, you can set aside money, tax free, to purchase your own coverages. Additionally, an employer could also add to your HSA as a benefit of employment. You control the plan you desire, the premiums you pay, and the HSA could be used for any out of pocket deductibles, co-payments, drug purchases, dental care, vision care, or over the counter health treatment costs. Government could easily subsidize low income families through an HSA and allow private insurance and personal choice to be the guide for responsibility of the individuals health care needs.
4. By using the HSA’s, you are able to allow tax-free accumulations of money used to fund health care expenses. No one can tell you to purchase coverages, but better education of individuals is needed to explain that you may not need it today, but the day is certain when you will. Younger people would be encouraged to participate, even with higher deductible plans that further reduces coverage costs long term.
5. Medicare and Medicaid fraud and waste account for roughly $500 Billion in costs to the taxpayer/recipients. There is no controls set up to determine benefit payments to providers for double billing, fraudulent claims, or any other method to track payments. These areas must be addressed immediately rather than continuing to cut benefits to these programs for our Seniors and Medicaid recipients.
6. No one can expect an insurance company to insure your house as it sits in flames, burning to the ground. You simply waited too late to insure it. You may never use your homeowners policy, but the fact is, IF you do need it, you better have it in advance of a loss. Health care should be treated no differently, but there needs to be a method of insuring the uninsured through various state level pools that will accept risks not insurable through normal channels. Waiting periods for pre-existing conditions must be realistic and disclosed fully to the purchaser. There is one difference in homeowners and health insurance- you WILL use your health care benefits eventually and people must be educated that purchasing while healthy and insurable is less costly in the long term.
7. If you ask any Doctor or Hospital what is their most undesirable role is and it is filing claims. Our current system becomes clogged with claims due to the necessary coding of claims and nothing works efficiently. Claims get denied, refiled, denied again, phone calls made, and eventually either the patient is billed or the insurance company pays. Claims need to be funded directly to the patient, not the provider. You obtain two benefits in doing this. First, the HSA account is paid directly (and the patient pays the provider), within 5 days of a claim being filed (electronically), and insurance companies are “on the hook” for any claim submitted on coverages that are over 6 months old- PERIOD. Secondly, medical care providers will post fee schedules and will follow those schedules. Patients know the costs upfront and are then free to look for better value if they desire. This creates competition and drives down costs as well. Simply look at Lasik surgery, cosmetic surgery, and other non-insured medical care; competition has brought the costs down where people who desire these procedures are able to pay for them from their own source of funds.
8. Insurance policies must be written in plain, simple English where people can understand up front what is covered and what is excluded. Summaries of coverages must not be misleading and any exclusions be made upfront. Failure to write summaries properly will result in immediate claims payments by insurers.

Just to make it even more cost effective, I propose a couple of more ideas that will further bring down health care costs:

1. Establishing of Clinics locally, near Hospitals, where those with illnesses are able to use them rather than the Hospital Emergency rooms. These will be staffed by Medical staff, primarily Interns under a Physician, and Residence Physicians. When an Intern or Resident takes this route to become a Primary Care Physician, he/she would see the following benefits- First year a 20% tax credit for any medical school loans outstanding and an additional 20% tax credit for every year (up to 4) for staying in the program. Additionally, if they remain in the area to start a private practice, they are able to take patients who wish to follow them into their practices. It’s a win-win situation. First, Hospital triage could refer those needing medical treatment (non-emergency) to the clinic(s) and the costs are reduced dramatically as opposed to Emergency room care. The patient receives the medical care they need and then understand that things like colds, contining care and non-life threatening treatments are best handled at the clinics, not the emergency room. More physicians are encouraged to become Primary Care physicians and the shortages are alleviated there as well as more opportunity is available for those entering medicine.
2. Cost shifting drives up overall health care costs simply because cuts in Medicare and Medicaid payments force Physicians and Hospitals to overcharge private pay or insurance plans to cover the losses from government programs. Medicare needs to be placed on sound, actuarial rating of Part B and D plans. Currently, those plans reduction in benefits as well as cost increases are leaving many of our seniors with out of pocket expenses and Medigap coverage costs increasing annually. These reductions, by government, are creating even more cost shifting to our non-Medicare/Medicaid patients. Eliminating the $500 Billion in payments for fraud/waste will not force annual reductions in Medicare benefit payments, but could actually allow increases in those payments to providers that is more realistic to actual charges incurred. Today, in areas with a high concentration of seniors, there are more and more Physicians who are not taking any new Medicare patients and few are willing to accept Medicaid due to the reductions in benefit payout. Unless a complete overhaul of Medicare and Medicaid is done, either further benefit reductions and/or tax increases will have to occur. By 2017 Medicare is bankrupt and Medicaid is already fully funded by taxpayers and government has no other choices than above to bring these programs under control.
3. There are an estimated 3800 mandated coverages nationwide from state to state. These usually are for anything from exotic diseases to maternity benefits. It is more cost effective to have most every mandated coverage to be optional coverages the individual could add as they see fit. A single male that is no longer able to father a child has no need for any maternity benefits, breast reconstruction benefits, etc. He however, might desire other coverages to suit his particular needs and could have those as an option to add to his/her plan. Mandated coverages serve only to drive up health care premiums and seldom achieve any real benefit to the vast majority of insureds. If a woman has a family history of breast disease and desires a reconstructive surgery benefit, then that could be optional coverage rather than mandated for all policyholders. The same type of optional coverages is used in homeowners, auto, and life policies and can easily be adapted to health insurance coverages as well.

Yes, these are bold ideas and require bold leadership to bring to fruition. It takes someone who believes enough in doing what is right for the people, not for political gain, to bring these ideas forward and for all to examine and debate. To some, these may seem controversial and to others, make common sense in their application and implementation.

Without those willing to advance these objectives forward, little will be done and the lack of leadership in Washington today will assure their demise. Help elect Mike Yost to Congress and have someone who will stand up for real, genuine and honest health care reforms that will work, will not force a loss of existing coverages or destroy our health care delivery system, and will bring leadership to Washington with common sense solutions to our nations greatest concerns.

Michael “Mike” Yost, candidate for U.S. House of Representatives in Florida’s 3rd Congressional District made this statement today in reference to Rep. Alan Grayson’s “Holocaust” reference yesterday:

“Rep. Grayson’s egregious remarks on the House floor that Republicans want to see you “Die Quickly” deserves an apology to the House members. Even more egregious were his reference to Republicans not supporting the Obamacare plan as creating a “holocaust” to Americans without health care. Rep. Grayson has gone over the top as over 6.5 million Jews, mentally ill, gypsy’s and other “non-productive” members of Nazi Germany were sent to the concentration camps to be ravaged as labor and sent to their deaths that we refer to as the Holocaust. Health care in this nation isn’t causing people to die as no one is refused treatment.”

“His reading of the Republican plan that offers real reform through private solutions and limiting malpractice suits through Tort Reform must have made him have a real brain hemorrhage. Being a personal injury attorney, he apparently can’t support anything that would restrict his ability to bring suit for anything from a pimple to a mole.”

“Rep. Grayson not only needs to apologize to the Republican members of Congress, but owes the people of Florida’s 8th District an apology, including the Jewish community, who he apparently is very insensitive toward with his “holocaust” remarks.”

Once again, this is exactly the type of rhetoric from the Democrats that results in the inability of Congress to bring about real health care reform. Republicans have brought no less than 8 proposals to the table for consideration, and instead of looking at what effects they would have in making real reform, they allow Representatives like Rep. Grayson to make comments on the House floor and then in interviews blatantly claim he refuses to apologize to anyone. His further “holocaust” remarks on the House floors are nothing but indications that the Democrats really don’t understand that the real victims with Obamacare will be the average worker, the elderly on Medicare, and low-wage earners of this nation.

Taxes will soar, fines for not purchasing insurance will be put into place under the Senate plan, and creation of additional layers of government controls will lead to the deterioration of our present system. Fewer will enter the medical field resulting in longer waits for care and many hospitals and medical centers will be forced to close under these plans in Congress today.
If you want real, bold and accountable Representatives in Congress, then support Mike in his effort to bring real reforms to the health care issue. Many of our health care problems have been a direct result of Government involvement and creating more government to solve a government problem isn’t the solution. It will only lead to a destruction of this great nation financially. Help elect Mike as he will fight to reduce the size and scope of government and bring REAL Constitutional Liberty to all Americans.

At noon today, as promised, Big Government and Big Hollywood websites released audio from a conference call that included taxpayer funded groups to press forward to promote President Obama’s agenda(s) for healthcare, environment, and other initiatives of the Administration. From the posting:

On August 10th, the National Endowment for the Arts, the White House Office of Public Engagement, and the Corporation for National and Community Service hosted a conference call with a handpicked arts group. This arts group played a key role in Obama’s arts effort during his election campaign, as declared by the organizers of the call, and many on the call played a role in the now famous Obama Hope poster.

In this series of audio conversation, we hear Buffy Wicks, Deputy Director of the White House Office of Engagement make this series of comments to the participants of the conference call:

• “I just first of all want to thank everyone for being on the call and just a deep deep appreciation for all the work you all put into the campaign for the 2+ years we all worked together.”
• “We won.”
• “I’m actually in the White House and working towards furthering this agenda, this very aggressive agenda.”
• “We’re going to come at you with some specific asks here.”
• “I hope you guys are ready.”

She even questions the “legal aspect” of what she can and can’t say as there might appear to be conflicts of interest in the discussion.

Let me answer that specifically- using taxpayers funds, through the NEA, to further the Administrations agenda is NOT the chartered purpose of the NEA or any organizations the NEA funds with that money.

Using the White House, Serve.gov, or any other government office directly or indirectly associated with this Administration is nothing but total impropriety in pushing forth the agenda. It is a blatant disregard of the legislative process where members of Congress are supposed to bring the debate forward. To “ask” the arts community, again funded by taxpayers, to use their creative, marketing, and other skills to drive the debate in a positive direction for this President pushes the envelope beyond the pale. Especially if it means using the NEA purse strings to do so.

Michael “Mike” Yost, candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives in the 3rd Congressional District of Florida has this to say:

“I am totally outraged that this administration can use the purse strings of the government through the NEA and other government funded groups to pressure people to fall in line with the Presidents agenda. If this isn’t corruption in government, then it sure must be a very close second.”

After fully reading the article, listening to the audio segments and seeing the chain of events that followed, Yost also had this to say:

“This is but another example of why we must reduce the size of our government. The influence peddling by our government, using taxpayers money to do so, is further indication that everyone has their hand out and are bought and paid for by government. I guess with a $3.5 trillion dollar budget, you can get a lot of influence with just a little pressure from the man up top if it keeps the money coming in.”

This is the reason we must elect principled and dedicated people to office. As Mike believes, “Let’s Take it Back”…in 2010 is all about WE THE PEOPLE taking back the reins of government and bring real ideas that will work to make America great again.

With your generosity and support, we can elect Mike to be your next Congressman from Florida. Help Mike bring the change to Washington that will end this government corruption and bring prosperity to this nation. Make your contribution today.