If medicine was based on market forces, there would be no need for Federal intervention.
Until today.
Today was the day we were discussing the family heath care budget. I was mistaken in the amount of money that our local school district pays for DeAnn's coverage. Apparently, the stakes have risen by 22%. This year.
At a time when unemployment is too high (especially in THIS family), the cost of health insurance outweighs the cost of housing. It's our LARGEST expenditure.
The cost of coverage continues to rise at a rate similar to that of payday loans. Did you catch that italicized word? It continues to do this. This one word is very, very important. Next year, The Affordable Care Act takes force. We've all come to learn of this as Obamacare, and it's a divisive issue. Health care costs will SKYROCKET. We will all fall off the edge of the Earth and be eaten by dragons.
But rates have SKYROCKETED for decades, now.
Take a look around you. In the depth of the recession, which industry kept building and building during the construction dearth?
If you want to become angry about the current situation, and you want myriad reasons to do so, take a look at this post related to an important Time Magazine article. If you don't have the time to read 30 pages or the inclination to subscribe, here's an interview with the article's author and Jon Stewart. This author never showed up on Fox News (a.k.a. Pravda America). I'm not a fan of his, by the way.
I have a friend that works in, shall we say, "the allied health professions." Corporate heads have cut this person's pay scale, and one dropped expense in their family is...health insurance. I hope the irony isn't lost on you.
The family has a daughter with a non-life-threatening health condition. She needs to be treated, though. I checked with a family physician, who shall remain nameless. The question: what if somebody just came in? They had a wad of money and wanted to see a physician. How much would that be?
Well, a standard visit would be $44, while a first-time evaluation would be about $96.
My copay is $30. Thus, the difference is $14.
In the meantime, the Pflugerville Independent School District pays $332 per month for my wife's insurance. Southwestern University paid $517 for my health insurance (we paid an extra $26 to cover the kids--no clue on that pricing). The family monthly medications, barring anything extra coming up, cost our family $180. Counting lost salary (shifted to healthcare premiums) and pharmaceuticals, assuming two visits to physicians a month (conservative), add in one "specialist" copay... leads to $1155 per month of income that could be going elsewhere.
That doesn't account for a January emergency room visit at St. David's. We're still paying the $3000 for that one. St. David's is building a new wing, by the way. Also, THEY ARE LOOKING FOR VOLUNTEERS AND DONATIONS.
This change in healthcare policy at the Federal level is not "socialized medicine," it's an adjustment toward actual market forces. We associate health insurance with workplace and marital status for no good reason. David Frum gets in a lot of trouble for thinking too much, when there is a party line to be toed. As he said, "the gap between this plan and traditional Republican ideas is not very big." This plan is very similar to the counter-plan to Hillary Clinton's healthcare policy changes in the early 1990's.
In a ridiculous 2013 session, the Congress had passed a grand total of 21 bills in 200 days. Nothing's changed during the interim. The House of Representatives, where bills and ideas go to die, has somehow found the time to vote to repeal this "Obamacare" law 40 times!
Unpaid medical bills can result in the loss of student loan options, though. THAT Federal policy remains agreed upon by both parties.
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