Why Reform was Important to Me.
I suppose, I should relate why reform has been such an important topic for me here. It's really about someone I care about.
I have an employee that desperately needs healthcare but has been screwed over by the insurance companies for years. And years, and years. I write the check for the premiums, and I've not been able to justify paying it. So it hits me on two counts. First, that I'm too cheap to pay this kind of premium, which bothers me. Second, she's not getting the care she needs.
It's clear that the insurance companies are treating me from an actuarial perspective. I can appreciate that. However pre existing conditions are simple statistical entities. Probabilities. Unlike the trend, she's borne her medical condition well and she's a good employee. She works hard, and she's very healthy. A congenital problem caused her to have an issue , a blood vessel rupture in her brain. The insurance companies simply used her as a number and not as a person. Not one of them ever decided to play fair. Her condition was resolved with the rupture. MRI showed no others. And yet, they will not effectively insure her.
Until today. She now gets insured. And soon. And I will happily pay, because I can afford it. She has been skipping out on preventative care, because she's been uninsured all this time. No longer. So her chances for a long and happy life go up.
My bills go down.
As someone who runs a small business, this law was and now.. is.. one of the best things that's ever happened to us. When you get up to 40 employees, things smooth out. But where my business was - it was a nightmare getting good inexpensive coverage. This law means there will be healthcare exchanges where providers compete for my premium, the insurance company can't ditch my employee for an existing condition and better still they also can't rip me off for it either.
There's still a long way to go before reform is complete, however. I really think a cash buy-in to medicare will be a good thing for the gap uninsured and I think it's a better funding mechanism than the individual mandate. However, this law is a good thing. And now the question is, am I good for it. I'll happily write you a check when I believe I'm not getting ripped off. There's a line from Hemmingway's "The Sun Also Rises"
"We have been to places, some good, others not so good...but then again, maybe we were not so good when we were in them".
I have an employee that desperately needs healthcare but has been screwed over by the insurance companies for years. And years, and years. I write the check for the premiums, and I've not been able to justify paying it. So it hits me on two counts. First, that I'm too cheap to pay this kind of premium, which bothers me. Second, she's not getting the care she needs.
It's clear that the insurance companies are treating me from an actuarial perspective. I can appreciate that. However pre existing conditions are simple statistical entities. Probabilities. Unlike the trend, she's borne her medical condition well and she's a good employee. She works hard, and she's very healthy. A congenital problem caused her to have an issue , a blood vessel rupture in her brain. The insurance companies simply used her as a number and not as a person. Not one of them ever decided to play fair. Her condition was resolved with the rupture. MRI showed no others. And yet, they will not effectively insure her.
Until today. She now gets insured. And soon. And I will happily pay, because I can afford it. She has been skipping out on preventative care, because she's been uninsured all this time. No longer. So her chances for a long and happy life go up.
My bills go down.
As someone who runs a small business, this law was and now.. is.. one of the best things that's ever happened to us. When you get up to 40 employees, things smooth out. But where my business was - it was a nightmare getting good inexpensive coverage. This law means there will be healthcare exchanges where providers compete for my premium, the insurance company can't ditch my employee for an existing condition and better still they also can't rip me off for it either.
There's still a long way to go before reform is complete, however. I really think a cash buy-in to medicare will be a good thing for the gap uninsured and I think it's a better funding mechanism than the individual mandate. However, this law is a good thing. And now the question is, am I good for it. I'll happily write you a check when I believe I'm not getting ripped off. There's a line from Hemmingway's "The Sun Also Rises"
"We have been to places, some good, others not so good...but then again, maybe we were not so good when we were in them".
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