Rep. Paul Broun (R-GA) has introduced HR 299 which would do five things:
Repeal ObamaCare
Allow people to buy their health insurance across state lines
Allow people to join insurance pools
Encourage states to set up high-risk pools
Allow individuals and businesses to deduct 100% of their health care expenses (including insurance costs) from their taxes
This contains several of the elements of real reform that most people can agree onelements Democrats claim they supportwithout the bloated bureaucracy, loss of freedom, and outright assault on the U.S. Constitution. Instead of adding to the operating cost of businesses, it helps ease their overhead.
Much more:
http://www.dakotavoice.com/2011/01/...utm_campaign=Feed:+DakotaVoice+(Dakota+Voice)
I realize that most people think that allowing insurance companies to sell health insurance across state lines is a great idea. Supposedly, this would create more competition and reduce prices. However, there are a couple of big problems that doing so does not address.
First of all, a company in Mississippi might be able to sell health insurance in New York, but there is no way they could sell a policy to someone in New York for the same amount that they sell it for in Mississippi, because the cost of healthcare is much higher in New York than in Mississippi. Basically, this would change very little, as these companies would have to still remain profitable. There costs would not change from local companies and their administrative costs would likely be much higher.
Secondly, when an insurance company currently denies payment to a covered patient, at least the company is local, so the customer has some chance of successfully fighting with their insurance company to get payment approved. Imagine trying to fight it out with your insurance company that is based in a state on the other side of the country. Good luck with that. And the opportunity for fraud amongst insurance companies would increase dramatically.
An another topic, encouraging states to set up high risk pools sounds like a great idea. This is exactly what was done prior to the new healthcare legislation. Some states did and some did not. If you lived in a state that did provide a high risk pool, the cost was out of reach for all but the very few. I knew a gentleman in Indiana who tried to get insurance through Indiana's high risk pool, because he was forced into early retirement. They wanted $2600 per month.
Since so many of you feel the government should not be involved with healthcare, I have a better idea.
Why don't we stop forcing employers to provide health insurance to their employees. They could be much more profitable without having to pay for their employee's healthcare. Leave it up to each and every individual/family to purchase their own insurance privately. Then lets see what happens.