Trace, thanks for this and the CBS article. It's interesting to read the comments on the story too:
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/...ge2.shtml#ccmm
I have lots to say about this topic, and I confess I've been holding back a bit for many reasons.
For those of you that don't know about me, I live in Taxachusetts. We've seen some dramatic new insurance changes because of the consummate politician's efforts (that would be "Mitt"). The new compulsory insurance for this state will cost us BILLIONS of extra dollars. The figure of $1.7 billion was quoted; but we heard that with the Big Dig, which is nearing a $20,000,000,000 expense. This insurance bill may break the bank, even if all the other poorly-planned programs don’t. Fiscal responsibility? Huh?
I love the idea of ensuring that everyone has insurance. But I am also a realist (OK, cynic) and have little faith that state or federal agencies (in this country) have the efficiencies and leadership necessary to implement anything helpful to 300,000,000 citizens (er, I mean people) living here. Recall a quote from Steve Case: “A vision without the ability to execute is a hallucination.”
Therefore, case in point (pun intended), let’s look at the insurance providers in Taxachusetts that are part of the Commonwealth Choice Program:
- Blue Cross Blue Shield (Blue Corpse Blue Sled)
- Fallon Community Health Plan
- Harvard Pilgrim
- Health New England
- Neighborhood Health Plan
- Tufts Health Plan
Guess how many of these plans give us a “choice” of ADR? Zero. Zippo. Nada. Well, you can get ADR – they just won’t pay for it!
So, my fear is that any monumental changes in our national health care policies that strive to insure any/everyone will succeed in one thing – excelling to great degrees of mediocrity! Taxes will go up, and we are stuck debating these issues until the cows come home. But I hope they do come home…we’ll be starving and could use the beef n butter…
Finally, I believe we simply need to “nudge” the real market-makers -- that is the private HMO execs -- into a new reality. How do we do this?
We’ll see in the coming months…