Who says Republicans don’t have any ideas about health care reform, or anything else for that matter? Here’s Rick Perry’s plan to overhaul the system.
This afternoon, Rick Perry’s office released a letter the governor has sent to Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. In the letter, Perry once again threatens to invoke the “state’s rights” protections in the 10th Amendment to resist any health care reform passed by Democrats in Washington. (Perry first hit on that rather seditious idea last week.)
Instead of Obama-care, Perry wants the feds to approve a free-market-based plan that Texas officials pitched about 18 months ago.
Under the Perry plan, Texas would divert Medicaid money to allow uninsured Texans to shop for, and buy, health coverage from private insurers.
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Perry writes in his letter to Sebelius that his plan “presents a strategic alternative to continued reliance on government-run health care programs and our already overburdened safety net systems of care.”
I have just one question: Does Perry not realize that Medicaid is a “government-run health care program”? Or that using Medicaid money to fund his plan isn’t reducing our reliance on government-funded health care at all?
(Here’s a pdf of Perry’s letter to Sebelius. And, for all the policy geeks out there, here’s a pdf of the original Texas proposal from December 2007.)
Okay, so maybe it’s just that they don’t have any good ideas, or any original ideas. Diverting tax revenues to private industries is certainly something Rick Perry has tried before (*cough* *cough* Accenture *cough* *cough*), with not so good results. What could possibly go wrong this time?
Whenever I heard someone arguing for some kind of wonderful market-based system where we all go shop for health insurance, I wonder, Have these people ever actually had to do that?
I have, during 4 years of self-employment. I was lucky – a single male with no chronic health problems. It was expensive (but not as expensive as I thought).
But – it also was much more limited coverage than one can get in a group plan. A friend in the same boat who’d had a relatively benign cancer 15 years ago (totally recovered, not a trace of a problem in years) could only get insurance that would not cover her if she ever got any kind of coverage.
And we both knew perfectly well that if we ever got sick, recision would kick in – our insurers would scour our records for any reason to cancel our policies. (“Oh, you saw a dermatologist for a rash when you were 23? Sorry, we can’t cover you for your heart condition at age 50. Bye! Please go die quietly somewhere!”)
It’s a sick joke on those seeking insurance, and anyone with an individual policy who has the idea that they will be covered if a major problem strikes is living in a fantasy. It might be OK. It might not. Write that monthly check!
And we both knew perfectly well that if we ever got sick, recision would kick in – our insurers would scour our records for any reason to cancel our policies. (”Oh, you saw a dermatologist for a rash when you were 23? Sorry, we can’t cover you for your heart condition at age 50. Bye! Please go die quietly somewhere!”)
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This of course is one reason why so many do not have health insurance. In many cases, no one will insure them. Hypertension is the biggie. It causes everything. Including cancer apparently. It defintely causes problems for those with it looking for health insurance.
France and Italy probably have the most perfect nationalized health systems in the world. Neither is ever mentioned. Neither probably has ever been considered as a model. Why? Because they work.
A friend is here from Italy and went to a dermatologist. A skin inflammation. Probably acne rosacea. The dermatologist wanted to do a biopsy on a mole on her leg. My friend is going back to Italy in a week. Why would she have a biopsy here when her doctor is there?
Because she could pay and be reimbursed when she got back to Italy. That is what is really wrong with our health care system. The greed. Which is what is wrong with everything in our country.
I don’t support any of the proposals. Not that I fully understand them beyond knowing they will create a worse disaster. And you can definitely add Rick Perry’s proposal to the top of the list of what I don’t support. And in his case, definitely won’t.
Health care only for those who can afford it. The Republican/Blue Dog
Democrat/Republicrat way. Guaranteed to work by making sure “those people” can’t afford it. We don’t need them anyway. We have lots and lots of “guest workers” waiting at the border to come in and fill their jobs. Who won’t demand health care. Or get it.
We were led to believe we would end up with Medicare Plus with health care reform and instead it looks like we are going to end up with Medicare Minus.