Morning Read: Obamacare debate comes home to the North Country
I don’t often use the morning read to point In Boxers back toward NCPR’s own stuff, but this morning we have a pair of stories that give new context to the Obamacare debate as it shapes our lives locally.
Julie Grant talks with one of the architects of the new healthcare insurance exchanges being created in New York as part of Obamacare, with $88 million in funding from the Feds.
Politics aside, work on creating a health insurance exchange in New York is moving forward. The state department of health has already gotten $88-million-dollars from the federal government, to provide a model of how states can create these new health insurance markets. Much of that money is being used to improve New York’s information technology, to make it simple, and convenient for people to choose and enroll in health plans.
We also have a fascinating piece from Chris Morris, who contrasts the approaches to health insurance of incumbent Democrat Bill Owens (who voted for the Affordable Care Act) and Republican Matt Dohney, who would like to repeal it.
(Check out the print version of Chris’s story for the Adirondack Daily Enterprise.)
Doheny is laying out a range of ideas for how to make insurance more affordable, without Federal intervention, including a plan to allow purchase of coverage across state lines.
“I’ve said this many times: You can go online and buy something through Amazon, Google or any other e-commerce around the world or the country and that’s not allowed for health care,” he said. “(It) makes no sense.”
Also adding food for thought this week was the independent Congressional Budget Office, which concluded that Obamacare as written will “in the aggregate reduce budget deficits.”
The CBO also concluded that repealing the reform law would add “$109 billion to federal budget deficits” between now and 2022.
Before commenting, I urge you to check out the details. Read over the CBO’s estimates, check out the details of Chris Morris and Julie Grant’s reporting. Dig into Matt Doheny’s ideas about what better approaches might look like.
Then have at it — your views always welcome.
Tags: election12, healthcare, obamacare
Walker said:
“…if you honestly believe that our health insurance system is easy to understand, I can only assume that you have never tried to shop for a health insurance plan as an individual, and that you are lucky enough to have a very healthy family.” Additionally, he admitted to a good deal of confusion about his choice and also complained of not being able to understand what was and was not covered.
Right. So?
Larry, if you think you can sit down and read your policy and a make common sense determination that it will or will not cover a certain treatment or operation or practice, then you’ve been very lucky, and you’re almost certainly in for a nasty surprise somewhere down the road. It has been my experience more than once that the insurance company’s own reps can’t tell you whether a procedure will be fully covered before it is submitted to them. Doctors are routinely mystified by company practices. But hey, if it works for you, more power to you.
Walker,
My own personal experience is that there were no surprises, nasty or otherwise, when I recently underwent a surgery and hospitalization that cost in excess of $250,000. I informed the hospital rep of my coverage and was not troubled about it afterwards. My out of pocket cost was limited to exactly what I expected it to be and all bills were paid (by insurance) in a timely manner without stress on my part. Additionally, the situation could have been resolved with a much lower cost course of treatment but a more expensive alternative was quickly and easily approved because of mitigating medical circumstances. I don’t know why your experience has been different but every interaction with medical insurance doesn’t need to be a horror story.
I’m happy for you Larry. Hope your good luck holds.
I didn’t say they were all horror stories. Just more than ought to be the case.
Thanks Walker, but I don’t see it as luck.
Larry, I’m glad I know someone as awesome as you, if only virtually.
Larry says, “Why can’t people take the time to educate themselves so that they can make informed, logical choices?”
I think the penalties in the Affordable Care Act are designed to encourage people to do exactly that.
Personally, I favor a single-payer system. There can still be private health insurance if you want a gold-plated plan.
I have never gotten an explanation of why health care services are so expensive in the US compared to pretty much every other country on earth. To me its not about cost savings and efficiency, it is much deeper and more fundamental than that. The system itself is fatally flawed in how it is financed and funded.