I've been frustratedly watching the glacially-moving healthcare reform battle, like most of you here, and most (77%?) of the country, too. We all wait for a solution, not more yelling.
Yet the solution is right under our noses, and President Obama is set up politically well to pivot from "let's see what Congress can bring with bi-partisan effort" to "we tried to do it with you, so we'll do it the easy way then".
- Private insurance does not have to go away, it needs to play fairly, cut premium increases, end the unethical practices of canceling valid policies and even retroactively killing policies, all to avoid paying out claims.
- People need a stick to force this to happen, and a CHOICE for those who have already been impacted by the industry practices which are all about collecting money but not providing their service.
Might I be so bold as to propose, after the fold, a way to ensure both happens?
People need a way to get coverage they need. Let's propose a "Medicare Coverage Expansion Act of 2009".
{Personally, I think we should lower the Medicare age to 0 days. I don't know that President Obama can push this by "edict" (or rather, push for a bill saying this directly), but he can pivot based on the tea-bagging/deather Republican opposition.}
In a recent RecList diary, Muzikal says for Obama to give up already on bipartisanship.
I hope that this gives him an attack plan.
Medicare Act is hereby amended as such:
- Persons are also eligible to enroll into Medicare who have been:
a) rejected by their current or most recent private health insurance provider for pre-existing condition;
b) had their policy cancelled actively; or retroactively (recission) due to error or inadvertant omission in application;
c) denied claims for procedures ordered and approved by their doctor;
d) denied care coverage by their insurance company, in spite of the care being specified by their doctor;
Perhaps we can add in a note about eligiblity kicking in if your rates go up more than X% per year. Maybe indexed to the rate of inflation? :-)
What ideas do you have?