And,The Real Healthcare Villain Is…. The Healthcare Insurance Industry
Stanley Feld M.D.,FACP,MACE
President Obama is playing a dangerous game with our healthcare system and the delivery of medical care in our country.
His ultimate goal is apparent. It is to develop a government controlled single party payer healthcare system. This goal makes Barney Frank and John Kerry happy. Physicians will be salaried employees of the government.
President Obama could not get congressional support for the present law unless he made secret deals. He also faked out many Senators and Congressmen with promises he could not keep. His healthcare law is also unconstitutional. He is in the process of trying to fake out the judicial system.
President Obama knows the bill passed will fail to achieve universal care at an affordable price. All he has to do is look at the failed Massachusetts healthcare reform act. It is obvious the healthcare reform law will fail.
Americans are already feeling the pain of his healthcare reform law. As the pain intensifies, Americans will be willing to accept anything the government has to offer. Heidi Klein described this strategy perfectly in her book “The Shock Doctrine.”
First, we will have the public option. The public option will fail. Next, there will be a total takeover of the healthcare systems by the government. The government will dictate the medical care Americans can receive.
I know it is hard to believe but I predict this is Obama’s ultimate goal.
President Obama has one problem in achieving his goal. . He does not hold the Aces or the Jokers in the deck. The healthcare insurance industry does. It hold the most important cards in the deck. It provides the administrative services for the government run healthcare systems. Therefore, the healthcare insurance industry controls the money and the hidden administrative overhead costs.
The healthcare insurance industry will increase in premiums to the private sector. If there is no private sector, it will increase premiums paid by the government. The government will raise the money by restricting access to care, rationing medical care and increasing taxes. Increasing taxes will be difficult because the government is bankrupt. With rising unemployment rates the tax base decreases.
I will walk you through the scenario as it develops. First, it is necessary understand the steps the healthcare insurance industry is taking to insure its secure hold on the Jokers and the Aces.
This year the healthcare insurance industry is increasing premiums once more as it is reducing patient coverage and decreasing physicians reimbursement to physicians. Where is the money going?
The increased premiums will choke the healthcare system. The result will be more uninsured patients. Small business is struggling to survive economically during this recession. They will be forced to drop coverage for their employees.
I received an email from a reader. The email tells the story. The reader described herself as a 40 year old MBA small business owner of a high tech company. She wants to provide healthcare insurance to her employees. Since she is also an employee of her company she feels it is also essential to provide healthcare insurance for her family.
This is her story.
As an employer, the options available are overwhelming. The information available to determine the differences in various plans is difficult to get to, analyze and understand.
Insurance premiums continue to go up yearly as plan options change. President Obama is wrong when he says if I like my plan I can keep it. My plan is not available.
As an employer, we’re trying to help our employees by contributing a similar contribution on % basis. We increased what we’re paying as an employer to cover the increase in price of this years premiums. We can barely afford the increased premium.
It’s equally difficult and confusing as an employee to determining the differences in the healthcare insurance plans available to me through my employer (me).
I’m use to PPO (choice of doctors – well, at least those within the network). HMO is less
expensive, but I don’t really know what the difference is in terms of care, services, hoops to go through to get a primary doctor for referral to other doctors.
As an employee I’m paying $1600/yr, and my employer(me) is paying $14,500 for medical coverage for my family. This is for a $1500 per person ($3000 family) deductible.
In essence I am paying $19,100 ($1600+$14,500 +$3000) plus my copay per year for less coverage than I had last year. Where is President Obama’s promise of relief?
For the lower deductible plan I was on last year ($1000 / person, $2,000/family) the price is $17,500/year plus $1600 from the employee plus $2,000 deductible for a total of $21,100 excluding copay.
Dental and vision plans are optional and separate from this, and add another $1600/yr for basic emergency coverage.
This is insane! Expensive, very hard to understand and navigate plan differences, and although I have plan options, I don’t really have any options outside of a certain band of options provided to me through my employer, unless I want to go it alone, do more research and spend time/energy managing my health care options.
Sincerely
Where are you President Obama when we need you? The healthcare insurance industry is setting us up. These are unintended consequences for the non retired. Wait until we see the consequences for the retirees.
President Obama’s reply would be “I am on my way.” I’ll bet he is.
He would say everyone will have to live through this pain until I can stuff a single party government payer down the throat of congress. At that time everything will improve. The government will run the healthcare system correctly. The government will salary physicians. This will Repair The Healthcare System.
I suggest Americans should not hold their breath.
If you’ve let your congressmen know how you feel, tell them again and again-and again.
https://writerep.house.gov/writerep/welcome.shtml
http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm
http://www.usa.gov/Contact/Elected.shtml
The opinions expressed in the blog “Repairing The Healthcare System” are, mine and mine alone.