Ball on health care
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- September
- 14
State Assemblyman Greg Ball, R-Patterson, today added his voice again to the federal health-care debate by unveiling a list of proposals for health-care reform. The proposals, he said, came out of his town-hall style meetings with constituents.
Ball, who wants to challenge Rep. John Hall, D-Dover Plains in 2010, said he would deliver his proposals to the congressman. They include:
-Every American, regardless of pre-existing health conditions, should be eligible for health insurance.
-We should embrace innovative ways that allow providers to cut out middle men, insurance companies, by providing direct care at an affordable price.
-Any health care model Congress passes, they should themselves abide by.
-Allow dependents to remain on their parents’ health policies up to the age of 25.
-Provide for insurance portability across state lines.
-Partner immediately with small businesses throughout the United States, through direct subsidies and indirect tax incentives; strengthen employer-provided health coverage by helping small businesses bridge the “affordability gap.”
-Pass comprehensive Tort Reform by immediately getting runaway lawsuits in check.
-Improve access to health savings accounts and flexible spending arrangements while creating new tax benefits to offset the cost of long-term care premiums.
-We must make it clear that we will tolerate no cuts to Medicare.
-Adopt effective initiatives capable of ascertaining one’s unlawful immigration status.
-Help families keep their health insurance regardless of a change or loss of a job.
-Let small businesses band together to purchase high-quality health care.
For more on H.R. 3200, the health care bill, go here. In the summary section is a link to a .pdf file from the House Committee on Education and Labor, which includes more details.
Visitors to Hall’s Web site, will find links to a summary, a discussion of myths vs. facts and the bill’s text.
This entry was posted
on Monday, September 14th, 2009 at 2:23 pm by Mike Risinit.
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Umm, pretty sure all those bullet-points from Ball are taken care of in the Dems’ healthcare plans. Maybe HE should read the bill?
(Notable exception might be “tort reform”, but tort reform has been done before in Texas and other states and HASN’T measurably reduced costs, but has padded insurers’ profits.)
Ball’s “innovative” way to eliminate the middleman, is to allow Dr.s to collect their fees in advance directly from the patient. When you think about his plan, it is just plain dumb. Plus it does nothing to improve access to care or reduce the cost.
Medical Tort reform does work
“Consider the results of tort reform. Perry pushed for the changes that have become a model for the nation. The legislation delivered common sense to the courtroom and created an unprecedented influx of new Texas doctors. That means greater access to health care for all of us. ”
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/opinion/viewpoints/stories/DN-hicks_25edi.State.Edition1.26bf82c.html
The only concrete actionable suggestion Assemblyman Ball makes is “Tort reform” and in and of itself this is not really a suggestion for how to improve healthcare.
According to Patricia Danzon’s “Liability for Medical Malpractice” as referred to by T.R.Reid on page 36 of his “The Healing of America” ”... The nations total malpractice bill, including insurance premiums, big dollar verdicts and defensive medicine adds only 1% to our total healthcare costs.”
As far as Mr. Ball’s suggestion that we ”...cut out middlemen, insurance companies…” this would place us squarely in the same health care group as the third world which also provides healthcare on an out of pocket basis.
Nowhere does Mr. Ball address reducing cost – in any concrete fashion – eliminating corporate healthcare rationing or covering the millions of Americans without health insurance at any given moment in America and the tens of thousands of them who will die of curable or treatable conditions because they can’t get access to care.