A layman's take on health care reform

I will admit it: I know very little about the health care industry outside of my experiences with my own health, and my own health insurance. However, I have been attempting to educate myself on the issue of health care reform, because I like to be knowledgeable on the pressing issues our country faces, and while I am only one of 300 million U.S. citizens, I want to believe that I do have a voice. Additionally, what I have realized is that a knowledge of health care in this discussion may be important, but an understanding of economics may be just as crucial.


I have been in the "working world" for 4 years now, and have had health insurance through 3 companies in that time. In the past 6 months, I have learned more about health care via my personal experiences than ever before. I have had 3 doctor visits, one procedure, and will start an expensive allergy shot treatment this week. I managed to meet my $1,500 deductible in a matter of 4 months. I have truly been shocked by the size of the bills -- I did not anticipate that I would even come close to my deductible until having a baby someday. I am thankful that I have insurance that will now cover all of my needs. Surely, if I did not have insurance I would have opted to not go through with the allergy shots. It does not take long to understand first-hand just how costly health care is in our country.


The thing that has me most terrified about health care reform is that once enacted, it will be nearly impossible to reverse. Health care is not something that we can expect reformation of every 4 years. In fact, it has been decades since such an overhaul has occurred.


While there are a couple different plans out there, the common theme among the Democrats' proposals is a government-run insurance program that would provide insurance plans to those Americans that do not have access to a plan through his/her employer. The "public option" will also be in competition with the private insurance companies, so individuals &/or companies would have the choice of the public or private plan of their choice. This is where I see the red flag: a tax-subsidized plan will compete with a private plan, and by compete, I mean the government plan will win every time. How is a private company able to effectively compete for business when the competition is the federal government? As far as I can see, it cannot effectively compete & continue to make a profit. It is basic economics! The tax-subsidized government plan will be priced a levels that are not sustainable for private companies, which will drive those companies out of business, and viola! Next thing you know, nationalized health-care will be staring us in the face. I heard someone on TV call this plan a "gateway to nationalized health-care" and I didn't think much the meaning, but as I thought through what I see as the probable outcome, it made perfect sense.


So if not this plan, then what is the answer? Perhaps the politicians in DC should bring in the HR executives from Safeway to learn how it is possible to effectively cut health care costs through healthy behavior. They have cut health care costs by 40% in the last 4 years, while other companies' costs have increased 38%. Healthier people lead to less health care costs. Safeway did it; why can't others?


Let's compare health insurance to car insurance. Your car insurance does not cover maintenance of your vehicle, so why does health insurance cover every visit you make to the doctor? Why isn't it only used in the case of a car crash...er, illness/emergency? Those of us that have insurance go to the doctor for every reason we can think of. I am guilty of this! Now that I have hit my deductible, I have tried to think of any specialist I could possibly go see and not pay anything out of pocket. Perhaps that is one reason why insurance costs have sky-rocketed.


I have a high deductible plan because I utilize a health savings account, so the money I pay out of pocket for anything up to my deductible is tax-exempt. More wide-spread use of health savings accounts with high-deductible plans could also aid in reduction of insurance premiums.

Obviously, these suggestions alone are not going to solve the entire problem, but I honestly believe there are steps that can be taken. It is times like these that I think to myself, "There are so many brilliant people in the U.S., and this is the best they can come up with?"