There is definate need for health care reform here, yes. I was very much in agreement with John Kerry when he proposed that the health plan offered to congressman/senators etc would be offered to the american people as well.
But there is some free coverage here for the poor. Medicaid isn't perfect by any means, but I have to tell you it helped me out a lot when I was a single mother. I have a friend that has 5 kids, and it covers all of them.
My family didn't have health coverage for an entire year because the company my husband work for at the time only paid for his coverage. It would have been $250 PER WEEK to cover the rest of us. EEEK...we opted for self-insurance...as in take your vitamins and don't go climbing any trees. That is a pretty scary proposition with 5 kids, but that is the risk we felt we had to take.
Yes, the system needs to be fixed, but there are also a lot of people that are ignorant of what help they are actually eligible for. When I say ignorant...I don't mean stupid, they just don't know. Many states have insurance programs where you can get coverage for your kids if you make too much money to qualify for medicaide. My mother was able to cover her two youngest children for a few years through it. It was like $75 a month per kid, and it was a great plan. There are a lot of new insurance plan options too. We just signed up for a plan with a high deductible but with an HSA (health savings account). Basically, the premiums are pretty cheap, the deductible is high, but we put money in the HSA each paycheck. If we go to the doctor or have a medical expense, we pay it from this account. The money was put in tax deferred.If we don't use it, it can accumulate for my husband's retirement. For us this option works. His company believe in employee retention plans, and understand that offering good insurance solutions to their employees will help keep them.
I think it is important for employees to voice their concerns as to the plans the employers offer. Some comapnies will listen, some won't.
I don't know if free health coverage for the ENITRE population is the answer though. I think it was thomas jefferson that said that the government with the power to give everything to the people also will have the power to give everything away. I am not a republican, but I do think that the less we have the governement be responsible for our lives, the better off we will be.
What to do, what to do.
