I haven't quite figured out what I think about Obama's Health Care Reform. I know there are people who feel strongly about it - on both sides. It's kind of like cilantro, I guess - you either love it or you hate it. The one thing I'm in favor of is that grown kids can stay on their parents health insurance plan up to age 26, when hopefully they will be established in a good job and will be eligible for their own plan. Wisconsin passed a law saying the same thing. That didn't help Beth, who is currently without health insurance because she's 19 and not in school. Because Jeffrey works for a company that is based in another state and is self-insured, they really don't have to comply with a law passed in Wisconsin. So, no coverage for Beth. The company would have to comply with a national law. Hopefully this won't be an issue much longer, because they've pretty much promised her a full-time position at work, so she'll be able to get her own health insurance.
Now the part of the Health Care Plan that requires everyone to have health insurance - I'm not a fan of that. Requiring health care providers to give everyone the same discount that people with insurance get - that would be a good place to start. Why they charge the people who can least afford to pay up to 60% more than they charge someone with insurance is beyond me. If they can afford to give a huge discount to people who have Blue Cross Blue Shield, and who will only have to pay a small portion of that already discounted charge, why can't they give the same discount to someone who may not have insurance? Or, never mind about discounts, just lower the prices and charge everyone the same price. And publish those prices so people know what they're getting into in the first place and can maybe even go somewhere else for medical care, because they can get a better deal there.
And then there's the other stuff in the Health Plan about taxing rich people to pay for the whole thing - because, after all, they can afford it. When our government is all done, the rich will be poor, the poor will still be poor, and everyone will probably be sick - and no one will be able to afford the health insurance they are required to have.
