If you listened to the Sunday morning talk shows this weekend you probably heard newest sound byte in the argument against government sponsored health insurance option:
“The plan will put a bureaucrat between you and your doctor.”
Two things amaze me about this. First is that conservatives are actually spewing this nonsense. The second is that those in favor of a government sponsored health insurance option are not pouncing all over this argument. Right now, a corporation whose priority is making a profit stands between you and your doctor. Health insurance companies put up as many obstacles as they can get away with to your getting the health care your doctor prescribes; they will then deny coverage playing the odds that the majority of customers will not appeal to state insurance boards to overturn their decisions. But it seems to be OK for them to come between you and your doctor.
Just today I called to refill a prescription. The pharmacist called me back a few minutes later telling me the physician must provide information that the medication is medically necessary before they can refill the prescription. Yes that’s right REFILL. Talk about standing between you and your doctor and your pharmacist. A medication that was already approved as medically necessary must be reapproved for each refill.
Several weeks ago my wife was prescribed a bite plate for severe jaw pain also called Temporomandibular Joint Disorder (TMJ). A bite plate is first line, standard treatment for TMJ. The insurance company stood between her and her doctors declaring the bite plate as not medically necessary although two specialists who personally examined and diagnosed the condition prescribed the necessary treatment. So why would the insurance company would stand firm against it? Bite plates are custom fitted and cost $1000.
So please tell me how the corporation standing between me and my doctors is better than the bureaucrat? It’s likely that a government sponsored health insurance option would push private insurers to provide better services. Which leads me to a second point.
Another sound byte that you may have noticed opponents are no longer using as much is that “private insurers cannot compete with a government sponsored option.” That’s because that was an honest argument. Currently, private insurers have no real competition and therefore freely provide needless obstacles to getting coverage and need to make few concessions. GOP conservatives seem more concerned with the health of insurance companies first and the American public second.
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