I just hope the house reconciliation stuff passes in the senate. The Senate version does not eliminate the anti-trust exemptions. The House reconciliation bill puts that in.
On some of the points mentioned previously… California already has medical malpractice tort reform. If a doctor amputates the wrong leg you are limited to $200k or so. The limit has not gone up since it passed in the 1975.
Here in CA we have very inexpensive health insurance compared to back east. My health insurance (same employer) was cut in half when I moved from Philly to San Diego. I assume this is because of the tort reform.
The largest health insurer in San Diego is Kaiser Permanente, a non-profit. I’ve got them. I am VERY pleased with my family’s doctors. My parents oncologists were REALLY good. Yes, I had to pay out of pocket when I wanted the genetic cancer test – I’m fine with that. (Was one dead relative short of meeting their criteria.) That’s the ONLY thing that Kaiser has denied me coverage for. But it’s no frills. No private rooms if you’re hospitalized. They don’t cover removal of skin-tags – expect you to pay for that yourself. But if you’re sick, or doing preventative care – they’re good.
This bill has some important fixes.
It eliminates the lifetime cap. As a person who has seen 2 family members fight and beat cancer… only to have a separate, unrelated cancer occur 20-30 years later – I am VERY afraid of lifetime caps. (and a 3rd member fight a long battle with her first and only cancer) It doesn’t take much before costs start accruing.
It addresses rescission. Where insurance companies take your money for years, then dump you if you get sick.
The rhetoric on the floor of the house last night, during the debate, was pretty over the top. One of the GOP congressmen conflated “Totalitarian Communist China” with the health care bill. I can see calling it socialist – but not communist. The shout of “Baby Killer” to Stupak… former darling of the GOP until he decided to vote for the bill. The exchange between Rep. Slaughter and Rep. Drier was completely rude (both parties involved.)
All in all, it’s far from a perfect bill – but it does address some of the problems. I hope, over time, more can be done to correct and fix the problems that still exist.
