Health Care

There's been a lot of hubbub lately about the new health care bill and it's been translated into "communism," "death panels," and all of this other nonsense from, you guessed it, the ignoramuses of America. Take this video, for instance:

Can there be any room for a centrist at a health care reform town hall meeting

I'm on the fence about this health care plan myself, though I'm in full support of ANY health care plan. I think we can all agree that we need a massive overhaul in the current system. If you don't think so, I'd like to know why. As one of the uninsured, I can assure you I've heard enough cases in the past few years to argue your point. For example:

-A friend of a friend broke his collarbone skateboarding, and couldn't afford to get it taken care of because he was out of a job at the time.

-A friend had her appendix burst and was almost not treated because of confusion in her health care plan

-At least four people I know have bad credit because of outstanding medical bills (in the tens of thousands). They're just waiting for seven years because the credit rating will disappear. (How Medical Bills Can Wreck Your Credit)

Another thing that bothers me, is that people between 20-25 without insurance are not even considered "uninsured" by Blue Cross. Here is a statement released concerning the percentage of Americans uninsured:


"Nearly 6 million were what Blue Cross called "short-term uninsured," meaning people who are either between jobs or are just entering the work force."

This is from a fact-check session on cnn.com:

Health Care Fact Check - Cnn.com

So even though probably 75% of college graduates are "short-term uninsured," Blue Cross doesn't consider this a problem because, you know, what are the chances?

The thing with the new "public option" is that it is going to be so much cheaper than private practice that doctors are going to be "forced to compete and lower their prices" and I believe there is a provision for malpractice insurance built in as well. Is the government plan going to be THAT much more affordable? If so, is it going to be as good a quality as a private practice? Under the public option, you cannot select your own doctor or specialist (see link below). It also seems that private plans with high deductibles are going to be obsolete as well. So, it might almost be better to be uninsured from 20-25 than pay somewhere around $2500 a year, when it would typically cost about $800 for the average twenty-something to be treated.

You'll Lose Five Key Freedoms Under Obama's Health Care Plan

A few months ago, my friend referred me to an organization in New York that provided low-coverage plans for freelance artists and musicians for about $65 a month called Fractured Atlas. Unfortunately, they were forced to freeze their NYC enrollment because of eligibility problems with freelancers. So once again, independent artists and musicians, or anyone between the ages of 20-25, are not going to be covered.

There's got to be a way for younger people to subscribe to high deductible plans for a low price. Obviously there's no need to pay such high prices for such scarce treatment, but if I happen to break my collarbone, I don't want to have to make a choice between setting it myself without treatment or a $6,000 medical bill.

Anyone else have an opinion on this?