Michigan Health Care

A while back it was asked on one of the Michigan Blogs what we should be fighting for now that the 2006 election is over. Well, I vote for universal health care. This is something that is way past due and will become even more of an issue if (and most likely when) more high paying manufacturing jobs move out of the state (and the country for that matter). If a plan was devised that could save employers money on health care, we could see more new jobs created here.

Now would be a great time to take up this fight, as it seems we may have some help now - Joe Schwarz. He is working on a plan to create a new board appointed by the Governor and the Legislature to create a universal health care system for the state.

We need to get behind the idea of universal health care. We need to blog about it, write to our representatives, and we need to make those in Lansing know that this is an important issue to a lot of people in our state.

There is some talk of universal health care at the national level, but we shouldn't wait. Michigan needs a shot in the arm right now.

This is an issue that I really care about, and an issue that I think needs all the help that it can get. Maybe this issue needs it's own blog. I would offer to start it up, but I don't really have the health care knownledge to do it justice.

Article on Mr. Schwarz and Health Care
http://freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061226/NEWS06/612260388/1008/NEWS

Shopping for health insurance sucks

I've started shopping for health insurance. It isn't fun. There are so many variables. Honestly it is no wonder clerical costs in the health industry are so damn high. Honestly if the plans were at least somewhat the same, I bet a lot of paper work could be saved and therefore would cut down on costs for the provider and ultimately cut down on costs for us. There are a lot of different health insurance agencies, not to mention all those health co-op things that you pay into and you get a discount at the doctors office.

The prices of these plans are ridiculous. Then on top of the high prices you have the deductibles, the co-insurance, and the co-pays. Half of the plans don't even cover normal doctor visits, and the ones that do only cover two a year.

If the people in Washington had to pay for their own insurance (and weren't so damn rich), we would be so much closer to having universal health care for everyone. That to me is something that should be covered in the media and in the blogs more.

The joys of being self-employed I guess.

Get talking about health care

There is a great discussion going on over at Michigan Liberal about a state health care plan. Head over there now and participate. A buddy of mine who is in med-school right now told me that universal health care was most likely to start at the state level (I believe he got that info from the American Medical Association).

Get over there and talk about it! The only way to get the ball rolling is to get people talking about this issue.

http://www.michiganliberal.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=7559

We need to fix the economy

Whether this President wants to admit it or not, the economy is in trouble. There are article swirling all over the net with titles like “Bush's Chernobyl Economy; hard times are on the way” and “Can Anyone Steer This Economy?” Just saying the economy is great doesn't make it so; the US has to find a way to better compete in a global market place.

The thing I have been advocating for a while is an over haul of our health care system and installing some sort of universal health care system. The whole universal health care system debate should not be whether it is a human right, but rather it should be that this is a huge economic issue. Health care is crippling this country in the world market.

From Business Week:

"Politicians and economists have mainly thought of health care as a cost that is dragging down competitiveness. Health-care spending is the main source of long-term federal, state, and local budget deficits, the prime gobbler of national savings, and one of the biggest tax distortions, in the form of the tax exemption for company-provided health insurance."

Health coverage for every American wouldn't help just those with out insurance. If every American were covered it would left a huge cost off the backs of American employers. It would effectively give more money schools (everybody says better education leads to a better economy) again by lifting a huge cost of the backs of schools.

I love the idea that Howard Dean has to give everyone under the age of 25 health care (even though it doesn't help me). That would be a huge step in the correct direction, even though The President would probably veto it. Another idea that has been kicked around is national emergency health care coverage, meaning that the national coverage would only kick in after medical costs reach a certain amount. Again I think that is a great idea, it would help ease the transition. Maybe each year the amount that it kicks in could lower a bit.

There are a lot of smart people in this country, some of them should be able to figure this out. Start brainstorming on how to get this ball rolling!

Here is the Business Week article called “Can Anyone Steer This Economy?”

Something must be done about Health Care

Check out what the New York Times has to say about health care costs:

“Since 2000, the cost of family coverage has risen 87 percent while consumer prices are up 18 percent and the pay of workers has increased 20 percent, the survey noted. That is without counting the cost of deductibles and other out-of-pocket payments, which have also been rising.”

Costs have risen 87%! That is insane! Why don't people march in the streets over this? (Oh yeah I forgot, they are all to sick to do that since they can't afford medical care.)

I just don't eve know what to say. We pay a huge amount of money and what do we get for it? There are millions of people with out health insurance, millions more that have it but still have to pay a large sum of money out of their pocket when they get sick, and we still don't have a stroke medication that doesn't have a 10% chance of killing you if you take it.

NY Times Article (requires you to sign up for free)
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/27/business/27insure.html?ex=1162443600&en=0748d57f90a758b9&ei=5070

How health care can help

I think would of the best ways to assure a Democrat winning The Presidency in 2008 is for the Democrats make some real progress on health care when they take control of congress after the election. If the Dems pass a bill reducing the cost of health care, or giving health care to any one (on Al Franken today, Howard Dean suggested giving health care to every one under 25) with little increase in taxes for most Americans in congress, it will be huge. Now of course The President can still veto the bill, even this would be great for Dems. If that happens they can campaign on the fact that the Dems tried to make the health care situation better for America and the Republican President vetoed it. I really think if the Democrats really want to make it into office in 2008 they need to make a big push on fixing health care in the US.

Health care is making me sick

It's 2006 and I swear sometimes it feels like we are still in the 1930s (not that I would personally know what it was like in 1930, but you get my point). Check out these stats:

• Total US health care spending in 2004 was 1.9 trillion dollars or 16% of the GDP!
• Employer health insurance premiums in 2005 increased by 9.2 %, almost three times the rate of inflation for the fifth year in a row.
• Average 2005 employer cost for a single employee was $4000.
• Average 2005 employer cost for a family of 4 was almost $11,000.
• We spend 4.3 times the amount we spend on national defense for health care.
• Health care costs are a leading contributor to bankruptcy
• The percentage of people who have employer sponsored health insurance fell from 65 to 61 percent in the years 2001-2004, or about 5 million fewer jobs have health care coverage.
• The number of people paying a quarter of their income or more rose from 11.6 million in 2000 to 14.3 million in 2004.
  
• Still no cure for cancer, AIDs, Parkinson's, and numerous other diseases.

What the hell are we paying all this money for? To many people don't have health insurance. Many who do have high deductibles and co-pays. Others have their claims denied when they need them the most.

This is a crime.

More info:
http://www.nchc.org/facts/cost.shtml
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A9447-2005Feb8.html
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A55301-2004Sep27.html

When the Democrats take control of Congress

When the Democrats take control of Congress, they must start to lay the way for a Democratic President in 2008. So how do they do that?

One of the most important things they must do is to make the Administration come up with an acceptable plan to get us out of Iraq. I don't what to go into detail about this, it just must be done.

The most important thing that must be done domestically is they need to work to lower health care costs and lay the ground work for some sort of universal health care. Why is this issue so important? If health care costs are lowered it will help to get the ball rolling on fixing many more issues. It will help American manufacturers be more competitive in a global marketplace. It will help many many employers to lower their costs, make a profit, and stay in business. This would largely help the American economy which needs all the help it can get right now. This would also greatly help education. By lowering health care costs, you are effectively giving more money to schools. Which again would help the economy by providing more qualified workers and giving schools more money to spend on other things. Once the health care problem is addressed then I think we can really start to work on some of the other issues this country is facing.

If the Democrats work and work hard on these issues and stay out for trouble this will help to get a Democrat into the White House next election.