But that doesn't mean that the insured will have to swallow the costs, Kagen says. In fact, he insists that his legislation would actually drive down premiums for everyone, noting that a major reason they are so pricey is that hospitals and doctors charge the insured artificially inflated rates to cover the unpaid bills of the uninsured. There is "a hidden health care tax within every product and every service in America, because of today's discriminatory health care system," he says.
Many, from Kagen to insurance groups, say that will change when everyone has access to coverage. America's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP), a Washington, D.C.-based insurance trade group, has proposed another way to make sure that individuals with preexisting conditions are eligible for reasonable rates. Under its plan, insurers would voluntarily commit to offer those who did not qualify for standard insurance policies the option of buying one at a rate no more than one and a half times the price of traditional packages.
The federal government would still have to fork over funds for those unable to come up with the cost of a premium. But AHIP's Mohit Ghose says universal health coverage would save money in the long run. He says AHIP estimates that it currently costs the government and the insured roughly $50 billion annually to make up for the deficits the uninsured. In contrast, he says, it would cost around $30 billion a year—a whopping $20 billion savings—to cover all Americans under its package.
Ghose says that AHIP does not support Kagen's bill, because it has its own proposal it would like to see enacted. But, he says, the group backs the emergence of ideas "so we can dissect them and work together to get more Americans covered."
Kagen's measure has 17 co-sponsors (all Democrats) and, in addition to Families USA, enjoys the backing of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. He acknowledges that it doesn't have a shot at becoming law under the Bush administration, but says he'll boost efforts for passage once the new president takes office in January. Kagen says he hopes that either Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton—whoever nabs the Democratic nod—will be that person, noting that they both have "excellent" health care proposals.
In the meantime, he says, "I hope to be the doctor in the House who helps determine what it is that people need"—at least on the health care front.
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7 Comments
Add CommentRarely is it ever discussed how physicians salaries have soared against other professions over the last century. Circa WWII, physicians made about what engineers made. Now? Physicians use the "but I spent so much time on my educaton" argument. Most people buy that on its face, and yet the people who do the research that tell physicians what they need to do make poverty wages, and they spend much more time on their graduate education.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThis is just one aspect of the health care problem. Another is cited in the article - the silent tax of the uninsured.
The other major leg of the problem is that we use more and more expensive procedures on people with less and less to gain, and less to give back to the world.
I get increasingly irritated at the general malaise exhibited by various politicos that the uninsured in this country is not a problem for us to address in a big way. Reading any social history before the 1930s one is constantly reminded that the "Well To Do" were not immune to diseases commonly associated with the "Lower Classes". Franklin D. Roosevelt as one notable example; who because he was a victim, devoted so much to the eradication of Polio. Will it take another Pandemic or Pandemics for the "Haves" to realize that lack of proper hygiene & medical care is not exclusively a problem for the "Havenots"? Representative Kagen's gesture won't make headlines, and may be perceived by many to seem foolish. But at least He's demonstrating a real sincerity to address the problem.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI would like to note that for many years (about 20) I was uninsured and paid [b]much[/b] more for my health care per visit than I do as an insured person - the insurance company bargains down the price for me now. For one - this seems terribly unfair - the people who can't afford insurance end up having to pay more for health care, which they can now afford even less. Second - there are no claims to file for an uninsured person - just saving on office paperwork should entitle them to a small discount. Third, I always felt like it was ME supporting the lower prices that insurance companies pay when I, impoverished single mother, paid full price - and I always paid what I owed. I really think the insurance companies and the medical providers take advantage of people in the most vulnerable circumstances by charging them substantially more, and then blame them, recently me, for increases in health care and insurance costs.Together, they maneuvers the poor into being a convenient scapegoat and argument for mandatory coverage...
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisOn a happier note, I did learn during my long tenure in poverty to take very good care of my health, grow my own healthy food and give up expensive and unhealthy habits - a silver lining worth it's weight in gold :)
To think doctors didn't even go to college in the 1800s, they went to Medical Schools. Around the turn of the Twentieth Century their salaries paled in comparison to Mechanics (read Engineers in todays language) working for the Railroads. In the Military there was a phrase; "the sick, lame & lazy" for those that frequently went to "Sick Bay" as a way to shame those that weren't really that sick. But at least there was a threshold, one COULD get care if they really needed it. Maybe with "Universal Healthcare" we can at last redefine what role doctors should be playing in our society.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThis is not a Health Plan, it is just regulation for insurance providers. Nor do Obama/Hillary Clinton have a health plan, all they want is to make insurance mandatory so those of us who spend half of our salary in rent and gas will have to shed $300 or more every month for something that we rarely use.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThe only plan that will work is one similar to those used in developed countries like Canada or in Europe. It is a SINGLE PAYER/MANAGED plan. Check the College of Physicians website (http://www.acponline.org/)and query "health insurance single payer".
I appreciate Representative Kagen's caring gesture. But my husband and I,
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisalong with millions of other Americans are living a nightmare--not by choice. It is unimaginable to be in the vortex of a falling stock market, no pension plan and paying $500/mo. for health care. I keep hoping someone has an answer for seniors and other troubled Americans. But, as I listen to the political debated, it seems to be business as usual--nothing but a lot of talk. My hope and prayer is things will turn around before too, many more people go under financially. I am in a stupor living out these last years of
my life.
As an Australian I cannot believe the richest country in the world dosen't have universal health care for ALL its citizens. In Australia any and every citizen of the country can be admitted to any hospital as a public patient for any condition and be treated at NO cost to themselves. Even doctors and specialist appointment can be free. Why is there even any agument about having a FREE system. Seems to me that people with vested interest (ie some of the richest in the rich country)are maipulating the US population via the media to maintain a system against the benifit of the common citizen.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisLook carefully at what you vote for.