Monday, February 04, 2008
The difference between Universal and
voluntary health care policy is a vast one. While Obama wants to steer clear of mandating health care insurance because its against "freedom of choice" he does us a huge disservice.
If the underlying goal is to have a healthy citizen so that that healthy citizen can work, thus that production will be beneficial to that person, and to the country's economics. We already have mandatory universal coverage of the very poor--medicaid--the very old--medicare-- and veterans--through the Veterans' Administration.
The people who would opt out are those lower middle income workers who do not have the extra discretionary cash to pay for health care insurance--that is seen as a luxury--or those who are young adults and healthy. The numbers are estimated by Obama at 15 million people, some say 22 million. Both groups are potentially ill or disabled, who pays then? We all do at a much higher rate.
Clinton's plan, while not perfect, moves us along to universal coverage. She also proposes that there is no stipulation that forgoes coverage of "pre-existing" conditions. This is a crucial element, it allows for people to receive treatment earlier, rather than have to wait--sometimes 2 years or more, thus the rate of survival/recovery is much better.
Paul Krugman looks at the numbers and costs, and also analyzes the potential political problems of both Obama's and Clinton's health care proposals:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/04/opinion/04krugman.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin
If the underlying goal is to have a healthy citizen so that that healthy citizen can work, thus that production will be beneficial to that person, and to the country's economics. We already have mandatory universal coverage of the very poor--medicaid--the very old--medicare-- and veterans--through the Veterans' Administration.
The people who would opt out are those lower middle income workers who do not have the extra discretionary cash to pay for health care insurance--that is seen as a luxury--or those who are young adults and healthy. The numbers are estimated by Obama at 15 million people, some say 22 million. Both groups are potentially ill or disabled, who pays then? We all do at a much higher rate.
Clinton's plan, while not perfect, moves us along to universal coverage. She also proposes that there is no stipulation that forgoes coverage of "pre-existing" conditions. This is a crucial element, it allows for people to receive treatment earlier, rather than have to wait--sometimes 2 years or more, thus the rate of survival/recovery is much better.
Paul Krugman looks at the numbers and costs, and also analyzes the potential political problems of both Obama's and Clinton's health care proposals:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/04/opinion/04krugman.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin
Labels: health care insurance
