CLintons health Care Plan

[dragonfly183]

Here is a link to the outline for the plan.
http://www.hillaryclinton.com/feature/healthcareplan/


I am for it. I certainly haven't seen anything better come out of the other presidential candidates. I've been without health care coverage for a very long time. I know to many people who suffer needlessly because they have no choice but to go without. I can treat most problems my family brings home to me not I can't fix a hernia or a broken arm and one hospital bill can send a family into bankruptcy. My husband has skin cancer and although he has spots that need to be checked I can't do it and we can't afford for him to have them checked my a doctor. lab fees alone are several hundred dollars.

Even for those of us who have health coverage it becomes more and more worthless. They want us to keep paying them but deny us coverage when we file a claim.

[zoebird]

the overview looks interesting and somewhat promising. i think it looks promising becauase it's not as "socialized" as i expected. it's based on the freemarket ideas, and it's provides some security to the purchaser.

what i would like to see is reform in the insurance industry such that there's more choice about care providers and types of medicine/healing. right now, the companies are so steeped in the western med and pharm industries that if you do not utilize that form of medicine, there's pretty much hardly any point in buying insurance beyond for emergency use.

i talked to a friend in the industry, and he sees it like this. he says that he feels that the policy for a given "condition"--say pregnancy--should be about allotments. it is, afterall, "your money" in a dollar-for-dollar sense.

so, he feels that the insurance company should say "ok, if you go our way, then we pay for everything. if you go your way, then you have an $8,000 budget to spend on what you would like for health care provided that it is for your own health." he said that the insurance company could reject things--like buying your maternity clothes--but would accept other things like yoga classes, massage, chiropractic, midwifery care, and so on.

this makes so much sense to me. for the past 8 years, we've put our money in each month for coverage through my husband's work. it's great to have in case of emergencies--but we haven't had any of those. and, we've hardly used it for more than our check ups--no medications, no nothin' else.

kinda annoying to put aside $300/mo in premiums--totalling $28,800--and not getting to use any of it in a way that makes sense for us.

[anita]

Wow, $28K is a lot of money! I get frustrated about the same thing. My work pays for my healthcare, so I don't see the bill. I appreciate having it as a back-up option for emergencies, but I am disappointed that I can't fully utilise its intentions (health care) because I prefer alternative options and these are a) not offered by my workplace health clinic and b) not fully covered by my health plan. Even though I'm not directly paying for my workplace plan, it is still as if I am paying twice for my healthcare: through work, and on my own. I would like to be able to apply my work plan to all my health choices, not just those chosen by 'the institutions'.

I'm not sure what I'll do when I leave my current situation. I don't want to pay for healthcare that I won't use / don't agree in principle with, yet the socially conditioned part of me says that I should in case of emergencies etc.

[zoebird]

a 'benefit' is still part of your compensation, and so in a sense, it has a dollar-for-dollar value. we contribute X amount, the company pays Y amount, and the total amount each month is $300.

and this is the 'least expensive' plan through the workplace. (that is, the program with the lowest contributions.)

we're at a point where we need to make some serious health care decisions. while we have total faith that we're able to afford the health care that we need and will need (alternatives, etc), we also want to be properly insured for our family's needs.

and we are growing our family right now! i don't want to go the medical route with birth, and i don't really want to go all medical for child health care either--but i want to make sure that we have adequate and affordable coverage because the deductables are so high. i think we have to cover up to $2500 in western medical bills ourselves, before insurance will pay for anything.

but, if we put more in, then the deductable is lower. it's hard to say anyway. we're quite confused by it. what we would prefer is an insurance plan where we can get alternative care.

anyone know of those?