Health Beat: Let’s Reconsider That ‘Public Option’ For Health Insurance
If Medicare were open to younger patients, the program’s costs would come down, and the competition would force private insurance rates down as well.
With the onset of the Affordable Care Act, everyone was mandated to have health care coverage or pay a penalty. 17.6 million more people have health insurance.
You can’t turn on the television without hearing Republican criticism of Obamacare, and yet no one has a plan that seems to be any better.
Maybe one improvement would be to reconsider the “public option” that was taken out of the ACA before it was passed. It would have created a Medicare-like health insurance policy that most U.S. residents could purchase as an alternative to buying policies from private health insurers.
Many opponents felt this was going to socialize medical care and give the government too much control over health care.
Instead, people are being forced to purchase insurance from private entities, although for many a government subsidy is provided based on income qualifications.
In Hawaii, two major insurers initially offered plans, Hawaii Medical Service Association and Kaiser Permanente. After the demise of the Hawaii Health Connector, all plans had to be purchased through the federal exchange, further complicating the lives of those who had thought they were covered, or who didn’t understand the new rules and guidelines about buying health insurance in this manner.
What if everyone really could buy into Medicare?
As it stands now, the Obamacare subsidies provided by the government are given to private companies. What if they were given to the Medicare program instead?
Currently, the standard cost for seniors is $411 a month for Part A, and $121.80 for Part B, along with whatever extra supplemental insurance is purchased, and a varying rate for Part D for drug coverage. Some may pay less, some more, depending on their circumstances.
There are distinct advantages to having this option available to the general public.
The financial boost might bolster the current Medicare budget and provide an alternative source of income from those who may be less likely to have high health care costs. Let’s face it, an 80-year old uses more health care on average than a 25-year-old. If both were paying into the system, it might improve the program’s bottom line.
With a budget of , Medicare is paid for through individual subscribers, and with taxpayer funding for any shortfall. Rather than running in the red, having more people pay for coverage through the Medicare plan, regardless of their age, could put the program in the black.
As it stands now, the Obamacare subsidies provided by the government are given to private companies. What if they were given to the Medicare program instead?
Another benefit of having a public purchasing option into the Medicare system is that it would give people the option to vote with their feet. If the costs of governmental insurance were less than that of private industry, the competition would force private insurance plans to lower their prices in order to survive.
Humana, United, Aetna, AARP, HMSA — these plans could all still exist, but if they charged a significantly higher amount than buying into Medicare, they would either have to lower their overhead or find other creative ways to remain competitive in the market and attract subscribers.
Medicare coverage is accepted at more locations and by more doctors than many of the bronze, gold or platinum plans offered through the various health care exchanges. The level of coverage is constant, there are basic rules and regulations designed to protect patients from being overcharged, and if more patients had Medicare insurance at a younger age, then more doctors would find it in their best interest to serve Medicare patients.Â
As it stands, for the percentage of doctors accepting new Medicare patients.
But if there are many more Medicare patients, access may improve for everyone.
Medicare is already accepted nationwide, with no pre-existing condition exclusions, no lifetime cap, portable to every state in the nation, and reasonably priced.
Why can’t the general public buy in?
Maybe the next plan available to all Americans should be the one that has taken care of our seniors for the past 50 years.
