Health Care reform has been a hot item starting prior to the most recent Presidential Election. The Obama Administration has now moved Health Care Reform to the forefront of their agenda. Regardless of your political affiliation, the obvious facts are that Health Care Costs have continually increased over the last decade. How should the problem(s) be resolved?
The average person who favors government intervention with Health Care Reform believes that the reform needed is with Health Insurance. Be careful not to confuse Health Care Reform with Health Insurance Reform. The two issues should be completely different, but it seems the Obama Administration has focused its energies on solving the Health Care Issue by focusing on Health Insurance.
While there have been few specific plans for the administration’s reform, many experts believe that the reform will involve a major involvement from the government. While there are factions in this nation that favor a “Nationalized Healthcare System”, there is equal opposition. Unfortunately, the public divide seems to rest within the “class system”. A majority of those families and businesses in the upper-middle to upper class oppose a nationalized system, while the lower-middle to lower class favor a Nationalized Plan.
I say to those that favor a Nationalized Plan, be wary of what you wish for! The problem with the divide actually resides with education and communication. Too often, those in the lower portion of the class system have been conditioned to believe the Insurance Companies are the big, bad profit mongers that cause your premiums to increase. Let’s be frank, insurance companies are in business to make money. However, if you take a look at the profit margins within most Health Insurance Carriers, you will see that most are lucky to achieve a 10% profit.
If the problem with our Health Care System is not with the Health Insurance Carriers, then where should the blame go? Unfortunately, there is no one cause for the skyrocketing cost of Health Care. Rather, there are multitudes of issues that have caused our Health Care System to become the inefficient beast you see today. There is no one “magic” pill that will fix our system.
If you take a step back and analyze our system as a whole, you have to concur that we have the BEST Health Care Services in the world. If this were not the case, then why would the world’s wealthiest people fly around the world just to have their medical needs taken care of in the United States? The fact is, wealthy people who live in countries with Nationalized Health Care Systems do not trust those Health Care Providers with routine procedures, much less the more complex ones.
So if we can agree that the Health Care Professionals and Facilities are the best in the world, then you should further assume that those individuals providing that care are deserving of whatever money they make. For my part, I want the guy who is about to open my chest up to perform heart surgery to be paid like a surgeon, and not a garbage man. So how do we fix our system?
The first thing is to focus on the real problem. The real problem is with the inefficiencies present in the system, not with the Insurance Industry. There are cost savings available through the efficiencies that can be made through the use of technology. By gaining the cost savings within the system itself, Health Care Providers (not the actual Professionals) do not have to charge as much money. That means the Health Insurance Carriers do not have to pay as much to the Providers. Guess what! That means the Health Insurance Carriers do not have to charge as much in premium. Finally, Joe & Jackie Blow do not have to pay as much for Health Insurance!
President Obama, focus on the real problem of fixing our system, and Health Insurance Premiums will become more affordable.