Straight Forward View Of Public Healthcare Option

I understand that it is unfortunate when people are not covered by an insurance company because of a pre-existing condition. I also disagree that companies should be able to drop coverage because of a new condition or sickness that arises in a paying customer. Our government wants to pass a reform that does a number of things:

1. create a public, government run option with multiple choices for multiple prices.
2. prevent companies from denying coverage for a pre-existing condition.
3. prevent companies from dropping a person's coverage when a new condition arises.
4. require companies to cover all routine procedures such as colonoscopies, regular check ups and the rest of the everyday things that they may not cover now.

Now this all sounds good if those things fit in your category but we need to look past our initial reaction to really think about what this means and what consequences passing this bill would have. If you force an insurance company to cover all routine procedures that they do not cover now it will force them to raise prices to cover these new expenses. That means for all of us Americans like myself who pay each month for our health insurance or get it for a lowered price through our employer that our price will be increased. Another thing that will raise the price is when a company can't deny someone coverage when that person is going to be a client that requires that company to pay more than usual expenses. Saying you can't deny me health insurance for a pre-existing condition is like saying you can't deny me car insurance because of a past accident or DUI. More people who are going to cost a company more money means that company has to raise it's prices. That is a fact. I wish everyone could have healthcare but it's not possible.

Now to creating a public option. It would be a choice of coverage plans at different prices, which would have to be lower than any private company offers now in order to be more affordable. What happens when the government can give you healthcare coverage at a much lower rate than a private company who was just forced to raise their prices because of new coverage rules? Obviously that private company would be run out of business. I can't imagine a way they could stay functional unless they cut huge numbers of employees which would increase our national unployment by hoardes since we are talking about a huge industry. Less people working would have a negative effect on our economy. And if you think that our government doesn't want to phase out private insurers think again. In 2003 our now president said at an SEIU conference he was "a proponent of a single payer healthcare option" even though today he said "I haven't said I want a single payer system" and in 2007 he said he'd like to see us eliminating private insurers in 10, 15, or 20 years.

If these companies are going out of business or raising their prices then people will be forced to drop their now expensive coverage and join the government plan. Now this government plan is run by the government, not by business men who have been running the actual medical coverage industry for decades. Now that the insurance companies are losing customers or employees or shutting down all together there are still going to be plenty of people who still can't afford insurance even on the government plan. How will we cover them? Raise prices or taxes on those who can afford it to cover the ones that can't? Offer a near free option with the same coverage for people who don't make enough money? That wouldn't be fair to the people who are paying more for the same option. We have to understand that we can't have different prices for the same things just because someone is poor and someone isn't. Maybe we should put more time and effort into finding everyone a job. I don't believe there is a way to offer healthcare to the entire nation while being fair to everyone and not completely eliminating the private healthcare sector. I would love to hear any ideas that wouldn't raise prices or cut jobs. By the way there was a recent rasmussen poll done that showed out of the some 46 million americans with no insurance, 43% of those could afford it and chose not to purchase it.

If you want to read the bill that is being proposed then google House Resolution 3200 or HR 3200. You'll find out that it is extremely long and has a lot of "sections" and "subsections". It looks like an unbelievably long tax form.

Thanks for reading.