Archive for January, 2010
NATIONAL HEALTH REFORM IS DEAD—LONG LIVE STATE HEALTH REFORM
Cable news is jammed with horrific stories of widespread destruction and disarray caused by an unpredictable calamity that struck with sudden, unstoppable force, thrusting many who were already sorely beleaguered into chaos and desperate disarray. Hurried rescue missions failed to prevent widespread pain and suffering. Such is life for the Democrats following the Massachusetts special election. Tip O’Neill was misquoted. All politics is loco. The big question now is whether the Mass. disaster presages a mass disaster for the Dems come November.
SHOULD HEALTH INSURANCE COVER PRIMARY AND PREVENTIVE CARE?
I buy collision and comprehensive insurance on my car, but after talking to my State Farm agent, it might as well be called collision and incomprehensible. With seven layers of coverage, most of it is as clear to me as the details of health insurance are to many others. But it has two aspects I do understand. First, it doesn’t cover gasoline, oil changes, or worn-out tires. Those are predictable, normally affordable consumer purchases. Even if I could buy such coverage, I wouldn’t. It’s not worth the added insurer overhead and profit—not to mention the cost inflation on gas and tires once sellers discover their customers no longer care about price. I’m better off shopping around for reliable service, low price, and credit card convenience.
The other part I understand is the deductible. If my car gets accident damage, I pay the first $2,000 to fix it. Insurance pays the rest. I could get a $100-deductible option, but that costs an extra $183 per year. I’d rather save the money and drive more carefully—even if the two gents who’ve run into me during the past 40 years didn’t. I’m still way ahead.
SENATE HEALTH REFORM TO CUT MEDICARE DOCTOR ACCESS
Health-reform bookmakers currently favor the Senate bill over the House version as bicameral, unipartisan, unconference-committee participants conspire in a C-Span-free White House to extrude their secret sausage. One of many unfortunate consequences of the Senate bill—according to a new report from the government’s own Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS)—is likely to be a significant shrinkage in the ranks of medical providers willing or able to treat Medicare patients. The Senate’s proposal to insure the uninsured would require Medicare benefit cuts of $541 billion to pay the lion’s share of health reform’s $882 billion ten-year cost. CMS projects that fully 20% of doctors and hospitals participating in Medicare’s Part A inpatient benefit program will become unprofitable as a result. According to CMS’ chief actuary Richard Foster, “Providers for whom Medicare constitutes a substantive portion of their business could find it difficult to remain profitable and, absent legislative intervention, might end their participation in the program (possibly jeopardizing access to care for beneficiaries).”
