I totally agree with the need for affordable healthcare, and I think I've posted in other threads that there are so many things the government could do without up-ending the entire system. Some I remember from that thread:
- A universal claims form. Just use the Medicare form. This reduces administrative overhead.
- Make it illegal for insurance companies to deny treatment prescribed by licensed physicians.
- Mandate one price for all medical procedures by a given provider. None of this bullshit secret pricing or special in-network pricing. If Congress can mandate Monroney MSRP window stickers for cars, why can't they mandate price transparency and commonality for medical procedures?
- Allow the government to negotiate drug pricing for Medicare, Medicaid, etc.
- I like the idea of experimenting with a public option for health insurance, but it should be cost neutral. If the government can really do it cheaper or better than private industry, I'm not going to shed tears for the health insurance industry. They might have to give up their class-A office space and layers of expensive bureaucracy.
Insurers- my favorite people. If they don't like it, too bad.
"Why did you deny this claim?"
We didn't think it was necessary and in the time since you started, we stopped covering that- it's on the exclusions document.
"But I have been paying premiums for decades and never had a claim"
The premiums paid were for the time when you paid them- that money doesn't work for you forever.
"$^%&*()_(*&^%$#E$#@$@#$@#$$%$$#%^%%%!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
I'm sorry, sir or ma'am, if you can't stop being abusive, I'll have to end this call.