rootninja

Dear President Obama,
Congratulations President Obama! You have been in our President for one year.  What a hell of a year! For the most part you have been steadfast in trying to do what you said you would do. But it looks as if you need some pointers on Health Care Reform. I haven’t read your plan. Maybe if there was a condensed version that was readily available, I would understand what you are trying to accomplish. I have heard it’s thousands of pages long and you made a lot of deals with people to get things included into the plan. By the way, what’s with that? Where’s the “change” in that?  So here’s my plan for you to review:

Covering the uninsured
If you have been denied coverage by an insurance company due to a pre-existing condition, then you can obtain coverage through Medicare, and pay a monthly insurance premium on a sliding scale.
If you work and your employer does not provide medical insurance coverage, then you can obtain coverage through Medicare, and pay a monthly premium on a sliding scale.
If you have medical insurance but have reached your lifetime maximum benefit, then you can obtain coverage through Medicare, and pay a monthly premium on a sliding scale.
If you are living at or below the poverty level, then you obtain coverage through Medicaid, and pay a low monthly premium on a sliding scale.
If you do not work (either because you are unemployed and not covered through COBRA or are retired), then you obtain coverage through Medicare and pay a monthly premium on a sliding scale.

What if you already have insurance coverage?
Nothing changes. You keep what you have.

What’s in it for employers?
All your employees will have health care coverage  even if you can’t afford to provide them with a subsidized health care plan. 
The crippling financial burden to you for providing medical insurance coverage to the American workforce will be eliminated.
You can compete on a more level playing field with most of the rest of the developed world (who do not place the burden of providing affordable health care on employers).

What’s in it for the uninsured?
You will be more likely to live healthier lives where preventative medical tests and treatments will be the norm not a luxury.
Your credit score will likely be higher because you won’t have all those unpaid medical bills in collection status.
You will not have to declare bankruptcy when you or a family member experience an serious illness/injury that causes thousands and thousands of dollars of debt.
You can visit a family doctor during an illness or injury which should substantially reduce those very costly emergency room visits.
When you obtain coverage through Medicare or Medicaid you will receive an additional discount if you are a non-smoker, choose a healthy lifestyle, and follow medical recommendations for preventative tests and treatments.

What’s in it for the insurance company?
Everything, it’s business as usual for you.
You can charge higher premiums to people who are smokers,  or who choose unhealthy lifestyles, and those who do not follow medical recommendations for preventative testing and treatments. 
You can give discounts to those people who have healthy lifestyles.
And your pool of insured customers could increase drastically if you offer more affordable medical insurance coverage, with a focus on preventative health care, that would compete with the Medicare and Medicaid coverage and premiums.

What’s in for the hospitals:
The emergency rooms will be used for real emergencies only.
You won’t have to write off millions of dollars of unpaid medical bills each year.
Your hospital patients will all have insurance coverage.

What’s in it for Doctors:
You will be able to provide quality health care services to everyone in the USA.
You will be able to focus on preventative health care services to everyone.
All your patients will have medical insurance coverage.

How to keep Medicare and Medicaid costs down:
All claims must be filed electronically.
All medical records must be kept electronically.
Investigation and prosecution of Medicare/Medicaid fraud will be a priority.
Swift and financially crippling penalties will be imposed on those individuals and companies who commit Medicare/Medicaid fraud.
Doctors and Hospitals who perform treatments, tests, or surgeries that are not medically necessary, or those that are experimental treatments, or those not-proven to be of use or benefit, will not be reimbursed.

THE BOTTOM LINE
If you want to receive world class medical care in the USA you must pay for it one way or another:

• You can sign up for medical insurance coverage through your employer.
• You can sign up directly for medical insurance coverage with an insurance company.
• You can sign up for medical insurance coverage  through Medicare or Medicaid (and pay a sliding scale insurance premium based on your income).
• If you can prove you have a bank balance of at least $XXX,XXX of available cash then you can elect to pay for the entire cost of your medical care yourself (or $XXX,XXX of available cash per family member).
• Penalties will be imposed on people who do not have medical insurance coverage, or who cannot prove they can self pay. In addition, unpaid insurance premiums will be collected for the time period not covered, or not able to self pay. This could be enforced annually when filing with the IRS, or when qualifying or re-qualifying for government benefits, and the money owed (penalties and unpaid premiums) could be deducted from government benefit checks such as social security, unemployment, and disability benefits, or through wage garnishments.

What’s in it for me?

What’s my motivation for trying to come up with a plan to overhaul the medical care system in the USA, a country with over 30 million people uninsured?  It’s a belief in the Christian values of helping those in need, of people pulling together to overcome adversity, of treating people with dignity and respect. I am not in the health care industry, don’t work for an insurance company, not a politician or a government employee. I have worked in the private sector my whole life, currently have health care insurance where the premiums are paid for 100% by my employer. However, I am originally from the United Kingdom and grew up in a country where medical care is a basic human right, like food, shelter and water. No, I am not proposing a system of nationalized government run health care like the UK. It’s plagued by long waiting lists for non-life threatening procedures. However, it far outperforms the USA in providing preventative medical care by investing in people’s health up front. So let’s use what we have in the USA but tweak it a bit.  The insurance companies are profitable and they work well together with the world famous hospitals and doctors. We could expand out Medicare and Medicaid to cover those who can’t get insurance (but they do have to pay a premium based on a sliding scale). We could subsidize those premiums for those people who are living below the poverty level. And at the same time provide incentives to insurance companies, and doctors and hospitals to become more efficient and more effective. Finally and most importantly let’s make preventative medicine a priority for all and promote healthy lifestyles. And turn medical care into a basic human right in the USA, not a privilege.

Sincerely,
George

P.S. President Obama, I know you have a lot on your plate right now but I’d be happy to weigh in on the debacle that occurred just a couple of days ago in Massachusetts. Get real, did you really expect her to win? I’ve got plenty of feedback on how that campaign should have been run! You have got to get back in touch with us regular people!