At The Capitol / State rep touts private insurance

State Rep. Tom Emmer is reviving a health care reform idea that hasn't gained support in the past - a constitutional amendment guaranteeing Minnesotans' access to private insurance.

[yeah sure]

You can't have insurance companies writing policies to fit an economic profile. If you don't regulate what they cover, they will only cover low risk health problems. We need more competition within each state. Companies ought to be able to sell insurance anywhere in the US. The coverage ought to be portable, so there is no "out of network" costs. Insurance companies ought to be non-profit entities and the highest paid official should not be able to make more than 40 times the salary of the lowest paid employee. There should be no preexisting condition denials. Doctors should be forced to advertise their prices so we know what we are spending. That way you can shop around for the best deal. Look at how low the price has become for LASIK surgery. We need an expansion of the small private clinics which treat nonviolent illnesses, like colds, flu, rash, athlete's foot etc. You can see a physician's assistant for 59 bucks instead of 185 to see my doctor. We need to get the cost of medicine under control. There needs to be a policy in place which allows enough profit for research and development, but prevents medicines from costing $50,000 a year. However, I don't believe in a public option right away. I think you implement the above mentioned reforms along with some that I've missed and see how it goes. If it doesn't work after 3 years, then embrace the public option. Find all this so-called waste and fraud in medicare before you implement the public option. Save the money first. If it is even true. If so, they could have funded the TARP bailout with the alleged savings from Medicare. If you go to public option, eliminate the tax on individuals who refuse to get insurance. People don't want to lose their choices and they shouldn't have to. I personally know 3 people w/o health ins. 2 of them won't take the time to fill out the forms for MN care, which they would both qualify for. They both just hate the paperwork. The 3rd one lost his job for insubordination and could have had COBRA, but chose to continue smoking cigarettes and pot and drinks like a fish, but claims he can't afford insurance. HUH? I have another friend who had no insurance and a very risky lifestyle which eventually lead to a debilitating injury which has left him in a wheel chair. He has no assets, no income and hadn't paid taxes for several years because all his income went into his crack pipe. Well, he has had $3.4 million dollars of initial and follow up care and training to walk again. So no one can tell me that you cannot get coverage if you are poor. We have a great system, it just needs tweaking, but no public option.

[Nutcases]

Are you kidding? Spend tax dollars for this stupid idea.

[Reply _to_1]

In partial reply to the first response, which said in part:
"Doctors should be forced to advertise their prices so we know what we are spending. That way you can shop around for the best deal. Look at how low the price has become for LASIK surgery. We need an expansion of the small private clinics which treat nonviolent illnesses, like colds, flu, rash, athlete's foot etc. You can see a physician's assistant for 59 bucks instead of 185 to see my doctor."
1. It isn't just prices of doctors that are opaque; so are prices for basic diagnostic services such as an MRI. There are some efforts to go down this road, but most of the time people don't care. Why? Their insurance pays for it--and they don't even understand that they actually pay for their insurance through forgone wages. So much of the trouble in health care is the fact that private and public sector bureaucrats are involved, not patients.
Take the same amount of money your employer spends on your behalf through insurance and buy a low-cost, high-deductible policy. Stick the money in a health savings account. When enough people do this, they will DEMAND to know what the prices are. Doctors and hospitals will then start to offer realistic prices rather than ridiculous list prices.
2. The clinics you speak of are already here. RediClinic. MinuteClinic, etc. But doctors and hospitals oppose them. They hate the competition.
3. Funny that you site Lasik. It's one of the few medical services for which we've seen both lower prices AND better results over the years.
It's also one of the few services for which patients pay cash.
Coincidence? I don't think so.
Private insurance "paid" for by employers makes getting health care maddening and expensive. Bad as that is, turning it over to government will be even worse.