Originally Posted By DVC_dad I'd like to interrupt for a sec. I have to say I truly enjoy you two, and your posts. It's really and truly informative. Keep it up and I'm not at all being sarcastic. I love it.
Originally Posted By piperlynne <<<What is YOUR solution Doug?> What is my solution to what? I've been advocating free market solutions to numerous problems on these pages almost a decade now. I believe in solutions that give the power to individuals, not bureaucrats; that encourage hard work and personal responsibility. When we first started talking about the mortgage problem, I advocated letting some banks fail, and some people lose their houses. Rewarding irresponsibility just encourages more irresponsibility.>> I'm sorry, I haven't been reading your posts for more than a decade and the posts that I have read seem to point the finger at the Democrats doing things wrong and are pretty specific about what is wrong. But I haven't seen you post specifically what you think should be done as an alternative. Since you know what NOT to do, I would hope that you would also have an idea of what TO do that would work and I'd like to hear it. I'm not trying to be inciteful toward you. I just believe that if you are going to cast blame on a group of people and say that they are doing everything wrong, you must have an idea of what the right things are to do.
Originally Posted By DouglasDubh Sometimes it's just as important what you don't do as it is what you do. But if you want more specifics from me, you're going to have to narrow your question a bit. I think I laid out a lot of principles in the earlier post, but I'd be happy to apply them to a specific subject of your choosing.
Originally Posted By Hans Reinhardt Good one X. I'm very curious to read what Doug the Reagan Republican has to say about that.
Originally Posted By DouglasDubh To help the problems with health care, we need to encourage more market forces. A big part of our problem is that there is a disconnect between those who pay for insurance and those who use it. Most people get health insurance through their employer, so they really don't care how much it costs. We need to change to a system where the individual pays for health care, rather than companies. If the individual was paying for it, they would have greater incentive to shop around, and to not spend money unnecessarily. Plus Doctors would spend less time billing insurance, and more time taking care of patients. We should give individuals a tax credit for purchasing their own health insurance. We should encourage plans fairly high deductibles, so that routine office visits would be paid out of pocket, but also deductible. We should also encourage health savings accounts. Lastly, we need tort reform, to put caps on the amounts doctors can be sued for, and to limit suits where doctors used reasonable practices.
Originally Posted By Kennesaw Tom <<And for Kennesaw Tom, sure we have enemies there. But you are pointing out the reactions of people there to MILITARY folks, which is a far cry different.>> My sister-in-law who lives in Afganistan is not military. She is a civilian.
Originally Posted By Mr X Well, why didn't you quote the second part of my comment (regarding Afghanistan) then? OBVIOUSLY, there is plenty of hostility towards Americans in general in that country. Given their centuries old history of invaders in their land, can you blame them? Did anyone really think they'd be like "oh, wait...this time it's AMERICAN troops! Let's welcome them!"? I do hope your sis-in-law is okay! Seems like a dangerous place to be around. I wish her the best fortune in her work (obviously important work, or she wouldn't be there I'm sure!).
Originally Posted By jasmine7 <<We should encourage plans fairly high deductibles, so that routine office visits would be paid out of pocket, but also deductible. We should also encourage health savings accounts.<< Yeah, that first plan works real well in the real world. I work as a claim adjuster for a major health insurance company. Our own insurance, through the company, switched to high deductible policies this year. Our team has had conversations about this during a couple of team meetings, and the common thread heard among us all is that we're less likely to visit the doctor now, even when we need to go because we just can't afford to. The local news stations have had similar stories about the higher costs of medical care, and the only thing that higher deductibles lead to is less medical visits, which in turn lead to more serious hospital stays because people couldn't afford to go to the doctor when it was a minor situation.
Originally Posted By Mr X ***<<We should encourage plans fairly high deductibles, so that routine office visits would be paid out of pocket, but also deductible. We should also encourage health savings accounts.<< Yeah, that first plan works real well in the real world. I work as a claim adjuster for a major health insurance company. Our own insurance, through the company, switched to high deductible policies this year. Our team has had conversations about this during a couple of team meetings, and the common thread heard among us all is that we're less likely to visit the doctor now, even when we need to go because we just can't afford to. The local news stations have had similar stories about the higher costs of medical care, and the only thing that higher deductibles lead to is less medical visits, which in turn lead to more serious hospital stays because people couldn't afford to go to the doctor when it was a minor situation.*** Strike One.
Originally Posted By Mr X ***We should also encourage health savings accounts.*** What does this even mean, anyway? Sounds like one of McCain's loony plans. What's the difference between a "health" savings account and a regular one? Is it tax sheltered like an IRA? If so, how do they regulate it (it's easy enough with an IRA, based on age, but for a "medical account"? I could imagine GOBS of fraud here...as though there wasn't enough fraud in the system to begin with!). So, Doug...how does this Medical Savings Account work anyway?
Originally Posted By Mr X (I'll withhold my "strike two" comment until Doug replies...but if it IS a tax sheltered thing, I'd really love to hear about the safeguards he plans to include)
Originally Posted By jasmine7 My understanding isn't completely strong on Medical Savings Accounts (or Health Savings Accounts, as we call them), but basically, you set it up so that a certain amount of money is taken from each paycheck. I want to say that it comes out prior to taxes, but I'm not 100% sure. That money goes into your HSA, and then you can use that money to pay for your prescriptions, glasses, deductibles, copays, etc. They're supposed to make it easier for you to pay for your health care in the long run.
Originally Posted By Mr X How so? Just as "enforced savings"? What if you don't get sick, and want your money? Can you simply withdraw it? How does this work?
Originally Posted By jasmine7 Glad to help, Mr. X. Just wish I knew more. I don't think you can withdraw it if it's not for medical related expenses. My suspicion is that since it's being taken out prior to taxes, that is what limits it to strictly medical related expenses. Like I said, I wish I understood HSAs a little more. They seem to be a little on the complicated side (and this my first year with one myself).
Originally Posted By piperlynne Thanks Doug, I appreciate actually seeing your ideas and opinions. I don't necessarily agree that its the right path, but that's besides the point. I just kept seeing responses and quips from you, so I wanted to get a feel for what your solutions were and you came through. So I appreciate that. I am not an expert on health care, and I am not going to throw my hat into the ring on something I haven't quite made up my mind about. Because I do like to think before I type. I think there are ALOT of really intelligent people here on WE, and when they post their thoughts and opinions and back them up, I think we get some great back and forth dialogue. Its the little digs and nonsense that derails the debates (and I'm not JUST talking about Doug). However, it is also the quips, digs and nonsense that entertains the heck out of me. . .so . . .a conundrum ;-)
Originally Posted By Sport Goofy << To help the problems with health care, we need to encourage more market forces. >> These are the forces that deny people health care coverage based on pre-existing conditions, or price them so far out of the health care market that they can't even afford routine treatments for benign illnesses. Isn't our health care system pretty much operating under "market" forces as is? So, are we to say that it's OK if the market forces half the population to go without health care coverage of any sort? I mean, those are the results of the market forces at work already.
