Is having health insurance a right or a privilege? Is having access to quality medical care a right or a privilege? The core issue of the health insurance discussion should be about the minimum of health care provided to all Americans. Health insurance is a mechanism of paying for this health care.When it comes to each of us and our families, there is no doubt we want the best health care. And when it comes to our children, everyone agrees there should be health care. However, this is not the case under the American Health Care Act. The AHCA would allow for insurance companies to deny coverage for pre-existing conditions. The nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation
estimates that 27% of adults under age 65 have health conditions that would likely leave them uninsurable under practices that existed before the health care overhaul. Being insurable or uninsurable is a result of a roll of the dice. If you are lucky and have not yet had a medical issue, you win and have the privilege of purchasing health insurance.
Pre-Existing Conditions Reduce Health Insurance Opportunities
If you are not lucky and have some type of medical condition ranging from acne to cancer, you would not be able to get health insurance, or even if you were able to get it through the proposed high risk pools to be run by each state, there’s only enough money to insure anywhere from 5% to 30% of those who would need it and the premiums would be significantly higher. Prior versions of this bill were estimated by the Congressional Budget Office to lead to 24 million Americans losing coverage in the short term and 52 million by the year 2020. (For related reading, see: American Health Care Act aka "Trumpcare" Explained.)
The Affordable Care Act Is a Good Place to Start
The Affordable Care Act while not yet perfect, allowed us the peace of mind that our son would be able to purchase health insurance. The Affordable Care Act though is not truly affordable and does leave a number of Americans with coverage gaps. The Affordable Care Act is a starting point rather than an end point. As with anything, it is always easier to build upon something and improve upon it rather than continuously re-inventing the wheel.
We can all agree everyone should have access to emergency treatment. If we dial 911, an ambulance comes and the 911 operator does not first ask about our health insurance. And under the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act of 1995, all hospitals are required to treat individuals regardless of insurance. This means we already have, by federal law, a starting point for all Americans to have healthcare
And in this country, we already a great public/private partnership between the federal government and private insurance companies that has been in place for decades. As far as I can recall, there has been no talk of repealing this program, only talk of improving this program. And this amazing program already covers 17% of Americans. All Americans either through age or disability will participate in this plan. And yes, this plan is Medicare
Read more: A Real Solution for The Health Insurance Market | Investopedia https://www.investopedia.com/advisor-network/articles/real-solution-health-insurance-market/#ixzz5FldGw0ol
Follow us: Investopedia on Facebook
ไม่มีความคิดเห็น:
แสดงความคิดเห็น