National Health Care STAT!

Since the National Health Care debate is upon us, I want to suggest that there is only one simple change needed to fix the system. This simple change will not cost anything, will not require a giant Federal bureaucracy to enforce it or taxes to pay for it, and will not in itself alter anything else about our existing system (for those 70% of you that are satisfied with your health care).

Are you ready? All the healthcare system needs is a law mandating that doctors and hospitals publish a schedule of costs for each and every service they offer. Such information is just not available currently and its lack is a major cause of the twisted shape of our healthcare system.

Oh, there are some procedures, especially major ones like hip replacements and the like, for which it is possible to get some sort of estimate. However, if I go in to a doctor for general purposes, a check up, a blood test, a specialist referral, a prescription, whatever, I rarely if ever ask, much less get an answer, as to what the cost of the services will be. That is because what I am most concerned about is the co-pay or deductible, or some other charge as stipulated in paragraph XX.4(c)d52.32xx of Endorsement 5 of my policy, issued 07-23-2005, effective 10-01-2006, which doesn't alter or amend paragraph (7) of Endorsement 3, issued 03-15-2003, effective 09-01 2003. As difficult as it is to piece together what my portion of the charges will be from the obscure puzzle that is my insurance, I can usually ball-park what the policy will require me to pay, and when I can't, most insurance companies have a helpful Hot Line to someone in India who can fill in the gaps. But at no point will I be able to consistently get from any health care provider what my medical care costs would be if I had no insurance.

Think about it. If we all had Grocery Insurance, here is what our considerations would be as we walked the aisles. Under the policy, canned vegetables are 100% covered, so long as I buy generic. Brand-name veggies are subject to a $ .15 co-pay, and tastier, locally produced corn will carry a $ .25 co-pay per item. Meats and fish are generally covered by a $ .75/lb. co-pay, but custom butchered beef, free range chicken or Alaskan Salmon are only covered 80% up to $500.00 and 100% thereafter, subject to the satisfaction of a $250.00 deductible in any given calendar year. Milk and eggs carry a co-pay, as does orange juice but only if its made from concentrate. White bread is 100% covered; any other bread is not. Chips, dips, nuts, and other "luxury non-necessary grocery items" are not covered, unless you elect to go with the Premium Personal Choice Option B policy, in which case they will apply towards your deductible up to $500.00 in any calendar year, and be covered 100% thereafter with a $ 2.65/lb. co-pay.

Well, that's enough of that. I think you see the point. I might become very well versed in what my grocery charges will be on any given trip, but I will not know what the various food items actually would cost in the absence of insurance. That particular factoid will only be known within the inner secret sanctums of the Insurance Company and the Giant Food Chain. And if I tried to find out what the actual cost of the food was, I would be met with blank stares and a "What do you need to know that for? I told you your co-pay will be $ .15."

Can you imagine the distortions that would develop in the food industry from such a twisted system as this? A system where consumers were purchasing food based on their needs as filtered through a bureacratic maze of co-pays, deductibles, premiums, exclusions and endorsements?

To Be Continued.....