RUTHFULLY YOURS

Of the misleading and incorrect musings from all sides of the health care debate, the concept of health insurance is the most pronounced. In their book “Life Insurance” (Eleventh Edition), authors Kenneth Black, Jr. and Harold D. Skipper, Jr. discuss the meaning of insurance, stating, “…human beings are exposed to many serious perils, such as…losses from disability and death…(T)he function of insurance in its various forms is to safeguard against such misfortunes by having the losses of the unfortunate few paid by the contributions of the many who are exposed to the same peril.”

In principle, insurance doesn’t pay for routine or trivial expenses. That is, auto insurance doesn’t pay for car washes, oil changes, spark-plug replacements or engine work. And when damage is done to a car by a covered event there is usually a deductible. Same for homeowners’ insurance. It doesn’t pay for landscaping, house painting or window washing. Rather it covers such catastrophic events as fire and storm damage. Notions about health insurance don’t conform to the definition of insurance because our political elites and media are pushing the socialized medicine agenda being hidden as an insurance benefit.

This coming disaster in health care is more than six decades in the making. More and more patients have been encouraged to pretend that patient costs are covered by an invisible all-knowing Oz that controls what is paid for and how much. This has contributed to many patients and providers being angry at all aspects of the health care system. And we haven’t seen anything yet.

We have arrived here because we have gradually been losing the idea that individual citizens would actually budget to pay most health care costs. Health care financing provided as part of employment (company or union) began as a way to get around wage controls during World War II. Because of this we have lost sight of a real health care marketplace.

Republicans want some fictional marketplace to solve the problem with more competitive health insurance options. But this marketplace can’t do this magic because we have been encouraged to think that someone else should pay unlimited health care costs in exchange for a token premium payment. Unreasonable mandates (preexistent conditions should not be taken into account) and edicts remove the benefits of the marketplace and will erase the line between private insurance and the government even under Republican control.

Obamacare is in a rush to socialize medicine. But it wants more than that. Obama wants to level society and health care is a good place to start, via a 2,700 page bill and hundreds of thousands of regulations and rule makings. The thirty million who are being brought into the system as beneficiaries will have equal access with those of us who have played by all the rules and paid as needed for care and insurance. The relationship I have with my primary care health care team will be trampled. Gone will be on time appointments, being seen the same day when something pops up, prescriptions called in that day, and return calls around 4:30 on matters that don’t require actually being seen.

Not only will I suffer because of this but so will John and Veronica – my primary health care team. We work together on health issues, and I fully pull the oars to remain as healthy as I can. Being pre-diabetic is a thing of the past since I immediately changed my diet upon the news. My body accumulating too much iron is gone and I am slightly anemic (by choice) based on my life choices. These outcomes are as pleasing to John and Veronica as they are to me. Not so when the hordes of citizen and non-citizen-takers are forced on John and Veronica diluting my care or squeezing me out. Half to whole day’s devoted to a simple appointment will become the rule, every phase of what has been a delightful health care experience will turn into nightmares and, as a senior, free treatments (for which, presumably, I have already paid)will be denied me. Mao would be very proud that Barack in taking down the man.

If Obamacare isn’t struck down by the Supreme Court, will it turn into the British or Canadian model? Britain allows a private system to exist alongside government health care. Canada doesn’t. The best we can hope for is the British system with flourishing private health care. In this event the questions are whether private health insurance will even be available and the tax consequences of premiums and individual health care payments.

Under the Democrats, our health care system won’t end up being a single-payer. It is going to be a single-employer. So let’s have a system that resembles military health care. Call it Medical Service Corps. Like the military MSC workers cannot unionize. MSC would employ all health care providers and in the primary care system there would be no third party payments. Salaries would be much lower than current provider compensation rates. A draft could be instituted to maintain adequate staff levels with three year commitments. Technicians would be used whenever possible for treatments as the military system does. A strict drug formulary would be used. Any treatments allowed that MSC does not provide could be covered with vouchers to the private health care system. MSC would be no better or worse than the health care provided our soldiers. Everyone would have access to it. Except for medical record keeping there would be no needed paperwork. Show up at sick call or an appointment, wait your turn and get treated.

MSC would make all treatment decisions. Waiting times to see a provider would be long. Waiting times to get specialized treatments would be months and years. Being in the MSC would create tremendous motivation for individuals and families to enter the private sector where patients make the decisions. Individuals could decide to focus on funding their own health care in lieu of more vacations, electronics, motorcycles and the like. Who knew that freedom in health care takes money? Saving for health care freedom would be every American’s choice. The health care issue could largely be solved with a vast majority of Americans choosing to take control of their own health care funding. This would have a tremendously positive effect on cost and patient / provider satisfaction.

Private health care insurance could look very much like whole life insurance. The risks of payouts are low when insureds are young. Cash values build up to be used for health care costs. Only when cash values are gone will insurance kick in. For many this insurance may never kick in. Passing such cash value health insurance to children would make this the ideal marketplace. Real individual choice would be evident. Say I have $500,000 in health insurance cash values and two children that I would like to inherit my health care cash. I have a serious cancer at age 82 that will cost $300,000 to treat, maybe extending my life a year more than otherwise. I make the choice of whether to treat or save the money, not a death panel of Barack’s progressive buddies.

It doesn’t matter whether health care reform is sponsored by Republicans or Democrats. It will end up in the same place. The only reality is to just go to MSC and allow private health care and real health insurance astride it.

Responsible Americans paying the country’s bills, including health care, will not stand for a Canadian system with elites (former presidents, senators, movie stars, athletes, etc.) secretly allowed access to the best care, no lines and complete control while we sit with full bed pans in the hallway of some wretched hospital. Responsible Americans don’t want to be taken care of. We want to pay for and control our own health care while providing the taxes to support MSC for those unwilling or unable to provide for themselves.