Major Issues Still Remain with Health Care Reform

While it sounded like a good plan to have health care reform on the go by Labor Day, the deadline came and went. What’s next?

Next is what the House chooses to do when they sit in September.
Some of the ridiculous issues raised over the summer months have up and
gone away, but others remain that will likely be a great deal more
contentious and have greater ramifications.

The leading issue seems to be the “public plan,” which is a polite
way of speaking about a kind of government insurance plan that would be
available to those who had absolutely no other health insurance
options. While this sounds like a dandy plan on the surface, there are
those that insist it would be a government takeover of health care, not
always a good thing given the current state of affairs.

On the other side of the fence there are those that make the case
that the public plan is ultimately necessary for any kind of reform to
be effective. If access to health care is an issue that is supposed to
be resolved, then this particular point of view tends to make sense to
a large number of people.

Taking a step backward to get a clearer view of the debate, one
comes to the conclusion that both sides of the argument have a point,
but neither is totally right. That isn’t too much of a surprise given
that it’s politicians doing the infighting. Really, the questions that
ought to be asked, rather than focusing on poverty and access to health
care, might be, “How will the government make Medicaid better and
stronger?”

This question makes sense since the original universal health care
changes have been tanked for now and the focus shifted to expanding
health insurance coverage to certain segments of the population.
Obviously, one of those segments is people living in poverty. Everyone
should have a safety net for medical expenses, and there isn’t one
right now. Instead, families face potential bankruptcy and total
financial ruin over medical bills.

Ironically, the one program that should be able to help those in
such dire circumstances – Medicaid – doesn’t guarantee either insurance
or health care to people in poverty. Reform, if it is indeed on its
way, needs to perhaps have Medicaid returned under the federal
government’s wing and change the reimbursement doctors are given so
they may assist people in poverty. That would make a significant change
in the health care system.

If poorer people did have access to health care, it would keep them
from having to use hospital emergency rooms. Just think about how much
this one small change would mean to the system wide budget that faces
escalating costs, thanks to poor people using ERs as doctor’s offices.

Clelland Green is with Benepath.com, a leader in providing health
insurance quotes. Benepath provides individuals, families, and
businesses with affordable health insurance quotes in just a few mouse
clicks. To learn more about Health insurance quotes, affordable health insurance, affordable health insurance quotes, health insurance plans, visit Benepath.com.