I don’t agree with the fact that the cost of insurance increases if the insurance companies cover all the essential services. However, the cost is deliberately altered for political reasons to give the public a negative attitude towards the policy. Insurance companies are in the market to run a business for profit, and they take the advantage of the ignorant public to fulfill the agenda of the political class, some of whom have a stake in the insurance industry
If I were to cut 5 of the essential services, I would cut the following, pediatric services, preventive services, prescription drugs, Rehabilitative services and devices and Ambulatory patient services. I would eliminate these services as they are not critical conditions that would greatly an impact the public health. Only catastrophic conditions should be serviced with the aim of saving lives at a critical level.
The pros and cons of covering all 10 essential services; Pros, it gives the masses easy access to medical care. Uninsured citizens can access healthcare services. A beneficiary cannot be dropped from the coverage when one falls sick. Unemployed youth are dependent on their parents’ coverage up to a certain age. Cons, young people don’t need health cover as much as older people do, some Medicare payments are minimal, and most aspects of the system are for-profit gains.
Healthcare professionals need to be reimbursed for their services since it is their means of livelihood, and they have invested heavily both in terms of time and money in acquiring the skills.
Everyone having access to healthcare through the emergency department needs to be attended to since human life is precious. However, the care must be monitored to ensure genuine cases are not compromised. This is not an adequate way to provide healthcare to those without health cover, although they should not be ignored and left to suffer since emergencies are inevitable.
Privately negotiated rates should be made transparent to the buyers and should be accessible to public and private players. The rates should also be within the universal spending target. Price information needs to be provided to the buyers so that they are aware of the services in relation to the expense incurred. Physician self-referrals need to be probed to ensure there’s no exploitation. These measures will be opposed by some quarters that may lose on profits as others benefit.
Patients may be readmitted after discharge to check on their progress based on their intake of the medication. Old patients tend to be readmitted more often than younger patients. Females also tend to be readmitted more often than males. Patients with respiratory or cardiac conditions tend to be readmitted more often after discharge. No one should be penalized for readmission. However, penalties will assure high-quality care, they ensure doctors don’t neglect their duties.
IRS (Individual Shared Responsibility) ensures shared responsibility of the payment between the individuals and their federal income tax returns for an exemption, or when not under cover. Health insurance should cover all facets of healthcare as stipulated in their respective policy. It should only cover for hospitalization and surgery. The advantage of this aspect is that these are critical cases which at times may incur huge expenses. However, it may be to the disadvantage of those covered, in case they never get to be admitted or to have a surgery.
Each person’s responsibility means avoiding risk to one’s health, like driving responsibly to avoid possible accidents. Lifestyle should not affect the cost of insurance cover whether one is a smoker or obese. Moreover, those with chronic illnesses should not be victimized, rather the insurance companies should consider the cost savings those who have paid for the cover, but yet have not fully utilized it.
All states should expand eligibility for Medicaid. Benefits of the expansion would ensure more people are covered and hence are secure. However, it should not interfere with health services for those not covered. It should have certain exemptions in those states which have not yet expanded, like the case of employers who would wish to have their employees under the cover.
The individual mandate is an infringement of people’s rights. The advantage of the individual mandate is that it ensures as many people as possible are insured. On the contrary, people should not be compelled to have an insurance cover by imposing forced taxes since buying health insurance should be optional.
Employees mandate should not be reversed. The employers need to be committed to the welfare of the employees, including provision of adequate health care.