It would be interesting to
see how universal health insurance will pan out in the Obama health care reform.
It made sense that insurers
should not be allowed to “cherry pick”. The Cockroach Catcher just realised
that perhaps there now will be a new commodity: patients.
The financial world has been
about risks and derivatives were designed to minimise risks. All very laudable
until some smart ones realise that much money could be made from such
instruments.
Health Insurers are a
special group of such financial institutions and no doubt they will want to
minimise the risks. In the past, it is very simple: exclude risky patients. Reuters: Insurer
targeted HIV patients to drop coverage
President Obama signed the
budget reconciliation bill containing a package of revisions to the big health
care legislation after giving a speech at Northern Virginia Community
College, a setting aimed at drawing attention to the education component of the
bill.
“Today we mark an important
milestone on the road to health insurance reform and higher education reform,”
Mr. Obama said. “But more broadly, this day affirms our ability to overcome the
challenges of our politics and meet the challenges of our time.”
He continued, “When I took
office, one of the questions we needed to answer was whether it was still
possible to make government responsive to the needs of everyday people, middle-class
Americans, the backbone of this country, or whether the special interests and
their lobbyists would continue to hold sway like they’ve done so many times
before. And that’s a test we met one week ago, when health insurance reform
became the law of the land in the United States of America.”
In his speech, Mr. Obama
also sought to temper some expectations. “The health insurance reform bill I
signed won’t fix every problem in our health-care system in one fell swoop,” he
said. “But it does represent some of the toughest insurance reforms in history.
It represents a major step forward toward giving Americans with insurance and
those without a sense of security when it comes to their health care. It
enshrines the principle that when you get sick you’ve got a society there, a
community that is going to help you get back on your feet. It represents
meaningful progress for the American people.”
It was a courageous president to have
taken on the might of Health Insurers the way President Obama did with his
Health Reform, it is time that England should seriously consider passing
legislation to rein in on Health Insurers. Many consider it too late to prevent
private bodies taking over our once efficient NHS. By 2014, Health Insurers in
the US will not be allowed to "cherry pick". Is that why so many of
them are poised to cross the pond? Only time will tell. In the mean time
legislation similar to those in the US will at least prevent the kind of things
that are happening now over there.
All the insurers have notified the state Department of
Insurance of their intention to resume sales.
“……There is plenty at stake. California's
private insurance market — where individuals and small businesses buy coverage
— generated $17 billion in revenue last year. The market is only expected to
grow as millions of uninsured Californians buy coverage, beginning in 2014,
through a new marketplace exchange set up as part of the federal healthcare
law.”
“Regulators from the California Department
of Insurance have been trying to prod insurers to start selling child-only
policies once again since they announced their departure shortly before Sept.
23, when the federal healthcare law would have required them to accept all
children with preexisting conditions. On Wednesday, officials sent the
companies two pages of "guidance" to help them interpret the new state
law.”
Guidance? Really!
Perhaps our new government is the one that
needs guidance. The sooner they rein in the insurers the better:
No exclusion of pre-existing conditions and no
rescission and definitely no dumping.
And a limit of say no more than double the best rates.
With the passing of the health care bill in the US, one must
congratulate President Obama for achieving the impossible and he will no doubt
be ranked with the greatest presidents.
A few weeks ago, Obama and
health reform were doomed and Obama was not up to the job. In the coming days,
we will see a jubilant Obama on the cover of newsmagazines. He will be lionized
as a giant-killer. His approval ratings will rise, both because more Americans
are paying attention to the beneficial features of the bill as opposed to the
Republican caricatures and because Americans love a winner.
"And the
health bill itself only begins the long task of wresting control of the health
care system from callous insurance and drug companies. We still have to fight
for a real public option that is the first step towards national health
insurance." Huffington Post
The Obama Health reform is dealing a big blow to
Health Insurers as by 2014 they will have to take all comers and cannot exclude
pre-existing conditions not to say dumping someone like my Anorexia Nervosa
patient. Until then, the State or the Federal Government steps in.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger of California, a
Republican gave a rousing endorsement of President Obama’s health plan. New York Times reported today.
The new government in a week’s time should take the
first step in legislating against Health Insurers “dumping” patients because of
psychiatric diagnosis or so called chronic conditions. That way, private
hospitals and insurers can fight it out amongst themselves. At least the
small pot of NHS cash would be safe. That would be a first step.
I doubt if any government would follow Obama’s
extremely courageous move of legislating against excluding pre-existing
conditions but we could watch what happens in a few year’s time. If we can at
least secure the position of those already insured we could save the NHS a
great deal of money.
Unlike the US we have a safety net: the NHS.
Let us protect it.
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