Health care reform may be a hotly conducted debate around the dinner table, office water cooler or a Congressional representatives town hall meeting near you.
This debate is over a means to fix what many people in Wisconsin and around the United States see as broken medical payment system.
Will health care insurance pools work? Is a public health insurance option the right way to go?
Briefly and very basically, an insurance pool is a system in which a group of businesses, for example, make an agreement to buy health insurance together to get a cheaper rate from an insurance company. In the public option system, participants would pay in to a government fund, which would be used to pay for health care costs.
For some, the current system works fine, but for those without health insurance or those without enough health insurance, even a trip to the emergency room can be an extremely costly venture.
Others, like those identified in Merced County, Calif., have insurance, but the deductibles and other health insurance costs have them still paying a hefty price for health care coverage.
The Merced Sun-Star in California, had this to say via the Associated Press:
By Carol Reiter
Merced Sun-Star, Calif.
(AP) So youve got that up-to-date medical card in your wallet, and you feel pretty good about your medical coverage.
Unfortunately, there are 1.4 million Californians who have medical insurance who also suffer from medical debt.
And Merced County isnt immune.
A study by the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research showed that many insured Californians are struggling to pay medical bills. More than 2.2 million California adults report having medical debt. Two-thirds of those are insured, according to the study.
Nearly one in seven, or 13 percent, of nonelderly adults labor under some type of medical debt.
Merced County is a bit higher; 17.1 percent of Merced County residents have some type of medical debt.
Some 32 percent of people with debt reported delays in getting needed care, compared to 16.1 percent without any medical debt.
And having that debt can result in loans and bankruptcy. More than half the people with medical debt reported financial consequences.
Part of the problem is that many people have medical insurance with high deductible plans. Some plans have deductibles of $2,000 or more for a family plan.
Lori Graver, director of patient financial services at Mercy Medical Center Merced, said the hospital regularly assigns accounts to bad debt agencies.
Last year, Mercy wrote off $15 million in bad debt.
People in California arent alone with that problem, and there are numerous other issues citizens are confronted with in the current U.S. health system every day.
In Portland, Ore., small businesses are facing the possibility of dropping health benefits for employees entirely, according to the Associated Press:
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) Thousands of Oregonians and small businesses are facing medical insurance rate increases in the double digits.
Small business owners say theyre struggling and may cut benefits or drop plans altogether.
Insurers cite the rising cost of medical care and the recession that has caused Oregonians to drop insurance meaning everybody else has to pay more.
Insurers estimate 750,000 to 800,000 are now uninsured, in a state of 3.7 million people.
The state insurance division in recent weeks has granted rate increases ranging from 10 percent to 23 percent in premiums for small businesses those with 50 or fewer employees.
Those are average rates. Actual rates vary widely according to peoples ages, health, deductions and benefits.
The increasing burden includes a 1 percent state tax on insurance premiums to cover uninsured children. Most insurance companies will pass the cost on to customers.
Small business health premiums have more than doubled over the last nine years, cutting profits, wages and jobs, said Bill Kramer, a Portland health care management consultant who does work for the Small Business Majority, a national research organization.
To that end, what problems have you experienced with health care or health insurance in the Green County and Lafayette County area?
Tell me your personal story. Send and e-mail explaining what happened that has you thinking something has to change in the nation or states health care system.
I will not accept politically motivated tirades, which blame a political party or public official for the problems. I want to know how the system might have failed you thats it.
Submissions must be limited to 500 words. Send your story to newseditor@themonroetimes.com.
I will post the submissions as I receive them and have had a chance to review them.
Also, keep sending your farmhouse pictures for the Green County Farmhouse Project. As soon as I have enough photos I can begin posting them on this blog. Remember, send one photo taken from directly in front of the farmhouse. Please e-mail photos to newseditor@themonroetimes.com.
Take care and watch out for bicycles.
This debate is over a means to fix what many people in Wisconsin and around the United States see as broken medical payment system.
Will health care insurance pools work? Is a public health insurance option the right way to go?
Briefly and very basically, an insurance pool is a system in which a group of businesses, for example, make an agreement to buy health insurance together to get a cheaper rate from an insurance company. In the public option system, participants would pay in to a government fund, which would be used to pay for health care costs.
For some, the current system works fine, but for those without health insurance or those without enough health insurance, even a trip to the emergency room can be an extremely costly venture.
Others, like those identified in Merced County, Calif., have insurance, but the deductibles and other health insurance costs have them still paying a hefty price for health care coverage.
The Merced Sun-Star in California, had this to say via the Associated Press:
By Carol Reiter
Merced Sun-Star, Calif.
(AP) So youve got that up-to-date medical card in your wallet, and you feel pretty good about your medical coverage.
Unfortunately, there are 1.4 million Californians who have medical insurance who also suffer from medical debt.
And Merced County isnt immune.
A study by the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research showed that many insured Californians are struggling to pay medical bills. More than 2.2 million California adults report having medical debt. Two-thirds of those are insured, according to the study.
Nearly one in seven, or 13 percent, of nonelderly adults labor under some type of medical debt.
Merced County is a bit higher; 17.1 percent of Merced County residents have some type of medical debt.
Some 32 percent of people with debt reported delays in getting needed care, compared to 16.1 percent without any medical debt.
And having that debt can result in loans and bankruptcy. More than half the people with medical debt reported financial consequences.
Part of the problem is that many people have medical insurance with high deductible plans. Some plans have deductibles of $2,000 or more for a family plan.
Lori Graver, director of patient financial services at Mercy Medical Center Merced, said the hospital regularly assigns accounts to bad debt agencies.
Last year, Mercy wrote off $15 million in bad debt.
People in California arent alone with that problem, and there are numerous other issues citizens are confronted with in the current U.S. health system every day.
In Portland, Ore., small businesses are facing the possibility of dropping health benefits for employees entirely, according to the Associated Press:
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) Thousands of Oregonians and small businesses are facing medical insurance rate increases in the double digits.
Small business owners say theyre struggling and may cut benefits or drop plans altogether.
Insurers cite the rising cost of medical care and the recession that has caused Oregonians to drop insurance meaning everybody else has to pay more.
Insurers estimate 750,000 to 800,000 are now uninsured, in a state of 3.7 million people.
The state insurance division in recent weeks has granted rate increases ranging from 10 percent to 23 percent in premiums for small businesses those with 50 or fewer employees.
Those are average rates. Actual rates vary widely according to peoples ages, health, deductions and benefits.
The increasing burden includes a 1 percent state tax on insurance premiums to cover uninsured children. Most insurance companies will pass the cost on to customers.
Small business health premiums have more than doubled over the last nine years, cutting profits, wages and jobs, said Bill Kramer, a Portland health care management consultant who does work for the Small Business Majority, a national research organization.
To that end, what problems have you experienced with health care or health insurance in the Green County and Lafayette County area?
Tell me your personal story. Send and e-mail explaining what happened that has you thinking something has to change in the nation or states health care system.
I will not accept politically motivated tirades, which blame a political party or public official for the problems. I want to know how the system might have failed you thats it.
Submissions must be limited to 500 words. Send your story to newseditor@themonroetimes.com.
I will post the submissions as I receive them and have had a chance to review them.
Also, keep sending your farmhouse pictures for the Green County Farmhouse Project. As soon as I have enough photos I can begin posting them on this blog. Remember, send one photo taken from directly in front of the farmhouse. Please e-mail photos to newseditor@themonroetimes.com.
Take care and watch out for bicycles.
