Posted by
Civis on Friday, January 26, 2007 8:01:00 PM
Senator Obama recently gave a speech on the need for universal health care. He is very passionate and detailed in describing the ills of the current system. Of course he follows the common path of politicians by not outlining how he would carry this out other than to say he will have his experts work on it for the campaign season. Newt Gingrich may be considered a polarizing individual, but at least he proposes specific solutions to the problems the USA faces. The fact that many of them fall in line with the Founders' vision is a bonus for me. I would like to see more politicians propose actual solutions when they talk about our shortcomings so the voters can make informed decisions.
I support the privatization of the health insurance industry. My brief argument for support is the model used for life, auto, and property insurance where informed consumers choose the best options for their situation. Also each individual could then be rewarded with additional discounts for such things as not smoking, being fit, or having a healthy family history. I look forward to the day where a little critter (see the Geico gecko) is selling health insurance on line at a competitive rate.
Under the universal model, the insurance industry has to take into account covering the full spectrum of people, from those in poor health to those in good health. That leads to higher costs for all. They also have to provide coverage for all of the government mandated benefits rather than allowing the individual consumer to pick and choose the coverage they want. Some people may want to choose not to be covered for mental health or routine doctor visits. They may only want catastrophic coverage. Yet with a mandated system, the consumer has no choice.
Auto insurance is a requirement for all drivers, yet the government does not push for universal auto insurance. Using a common universal health care argument, the federal government can pool its buying power to get low auto insurance rates for all. They would not do that because they know the massive government bureaucracy that would create. Why do it with my medical insurance? Why eliminate competition? I am strongly opposed to the government determining what the best coverage for my family is. However, I am open to generous tax credits to assist the lowest income individuals in receiving coverage.
Since the 2008 Presidential race has unfortunately started already, I want to hear some proposed solutions. I don't want to hear a speech about how something is broken and not get that person's take on how it should be fixed. Otherwise I could also run on a utopian platform of ending poverty, health insurance for all, and no wars.