“Play!” shouted the Queen. The players all played at once without waiting their turns and quarreled all the time at the tops of their voices. Alice soon came to the conclusion that it was a very difficult game indeed. -- Carroll, Alice in Wonderland as cited by Albert, Gilligan & Deevy
Welcome back to PJ's Healthcare 101. The first column is framed and sitting next to the kids’ baby pictures. Thanks to everyone who sent or shared feedback. One question to answer before we get to it in this week’s column ... NO, I am not being paid to write the column. If your second question is "Why write it?" I guess the easiest answer is because I think it is important to share insight and information on a complex topic from an insider’s view. So, enough on that. As promised, this column will share information on the various plans being offered up to “fix healthcare.” The quote I chose speaks well to the current state of that “fix” or healthcare reform....chaotic. As a refresher, President Obama has stated that any reform must address: • Reducing health care costs for businesses and the government. • Reduce expense to families. • Guarantee choice of doctors and plans. • Promote prevention and wellness (that's a topic for a future column). • Raise the bar for health care providers by improving patient safety and quality care. • Provide coverage for all Americans. • Promote COBRA which provides coverage for people who change or lose jobs. • Eliminate exclusion or denied coverage by insurers for pre-existing conditions. The key players in the health care arena include Obama, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D), House Minority Leader John Boehner (R), Senate Finance Committee Chair Max Baucus (D), and the Blue Dog Democrats. There are, at last count, nine introduced pieces of legislation and one formal plan moving through the Senate Finance and Ways and Means Committees. They include H.R. 3200 (America's Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009) , H.R. 3400 (Empowering Patients First Act), S. 1099/H.R. 2520 (Patients' Choice Act of 2009), S. 391 (Healthy Americans Act), S. 703 (American Health Security Act of 2009), H.R. 193 (Americare Health Care Act of 2009), H.R.15 (National Health Insurance Act), H.R. 676 (US National Health Care Act) and the Senate HELP Committee's Affordable Health Choices Act. The key points being debated are: • Public Option which introduces choice from either existing private plans or the public option through a newly established insurance exchange. • Single Payer Option as introduced in Rep. John Conyers, Jr. in H.R. 676 (US National Health Care Act) where there would be ONE plan. • Expansion of the current Medicaid, Medicare and SCHIP programs with governmental control. • Pay or Play Mandate which would require businesses to either pay for insurance for their employees or pay a penalty. • Mandate that everyone participate in some kind of plan much like the requirement for car and home insurance (recall from the last column that of the 43+ million uninsured Americans, it is estimated that there are some 9 million people who make over $75,000 but choose not to have insurance) • Governmental regulation of private insurance companies/plans. Increasing taxation on individuals or families who earn above a set level. The links to varied sites where you can go read the actual bills or “Cliff Notes” versions are provided below but READER BEWARE ... The H.R. 3200 bill is 1017 (!) pages long. A really nice side-by-side comparison is posted by The Kaiser Family Foundation’s Focus on Health Reform (http://www.kff.org/healthreform/upload/healthreform_tri_full.pdf) and it is updated as the bills are bumped about in committee and on the floors of the respective sides of Congress. So what is the take away? Remember that we spend $2+ trillion dollars each year on health care and many feel that the system IS in need of repair so some reform is inevitable. The other certainty? Everyone will experience some kind of change if any of these plans are approved and everyone has an opinion. Stay tuned. In the next PJ Healthcare 101, I will explore Obama's (and the public's) call for enhanced quality and safety and the current Pay for Performance payment system and how you can find out more detail about your hospital. Websites: http://thomas.loc.gov/ http://help.senate.gov/ http://help.senate.gov/BAI09A84_xml.pdf http://energycommerce.house.gov/Press_111/20090714/aahca.pdf http://conyers.house.gov/ http://edition.cnn.hu/SPECIALS/2009/health.care/ http://www.pnhp.org/facts To Your Health!
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