It's astounding to me that common sense can be so easily shouted down by ignorance. How on Earth did these people get swindled into defending insurance companies?
Let me by clear about this. As a health professional I have to deal with the red tape, prior authorizations, drug formularies, diagnosis codes, paper work and way, way too much time spent of hold with insurance companies on a daily basis. It's frustrating for providers as well as patients. It has grown from a minor inconvenience when I graduated in '84 to a full-time part-of-the-job headache. No defender of insurance companies or the status quo I. In fact, I resent that I often become their
de facto agent explaining patients policies and restrictions to them and breaking the bad news about uncovered services. Neither do I offer any excuses for insurance companies dropping patients over technicalities or some other nonsensical reason.
Actual consumer protection reform regarding pre-existing conditions, portability and coverage weaseling is badly needed. But so too is reform of the mandates that limit the types of coverage that companies can offer.
Actual tax code reform to begin severing the asinine practice of employer based insurance is needed.
Actual tort reform to eliminate frivolous lawsuits, outlandish rewards and defensive medicine is needed.
And pricing reform is needed to put purchasing power and cost awareness back into the hands of individuals so as to make informed choices rather than being insulated by cost-shifting, subsidies and third-party payers.
But excuse me for rejecting the idea that all the system needs is MORE bureaucracy, MORE politicization of the issue (Do we really need yet another "3rd rail" to demagogue?), MORE centralized decision making, MORE coverage mandates and MORE government controlled pricing -- when our current mess arises from the unintended consequences of government incrementally increasing, over the past 45 years, its purchasing of healthcare to the current 40% of all care and medicine in the country.
I too want to cover more people, more affordably. I just don't trust the architects of Amtrak, The Post Office, Ethanol subsidies, Medicare (need I go on?), to do it. My faith lies with the American people.