Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community - View Single Post - How do you feel about mandatory health insurance?

joshbaumgartner · 01-15-2008, 11:02 PM

Mandatory employer-provided health care is not a solution to the problem we face.

The driving factor behind the health care issue is cost. Cost cannot be reduced so long as we insist on centering our care finances on a bloated insurance industry that only spends 40-60% of what we pay into it on our health care. The insurance industry is grossly inefficient by any measure, and making purchase of insurance mandatory will not give them any incentive to become more efficient--quite the opposite.

Employer-provided health care is a relic of the past and puts our companies at disadvantage when facing competition in the global markets. Enforcing it through making it mandatory or making such a system the center-piece of a health care solution is not a real solution. Costs will continue to hobble us, no matter how we hide them.

Make no mistake, health-care benefits are not a gift from your employer. They are your employer spending your wages on insurance. Granted, there are some tax implications because they are not technically wages, but the fact is that is YOUR money being spent on those benefits. Those premiums are coming out of YOUR pocket.

Opposite to making insurance companies a mandatory part of the equation, I support making them a purely optional part of the equation. How? By having a universal comprehensive single-payer system to ensure basic health care needs for all people. That way if you want to go above and beyond this level, you can opt into an insurance program to defer costs. Insurance companies will no longer have the sword of Damocles to hang over consumers, since having insurance will no longer mean risking one's basic health, but instead be a merely voluntary item for those seeking more costly optional benefits.

Single-payer universal comprehensive health care:

- Employers are not hobbled by the cost and administration of health insurance programs.

- Elimination of the Insurance Industry black hole (savings of as much 4% of our GNP off the top)

- End of most current labor disputes (most strikes in the last decade have centered on health benefits)

- Drastic reduction in personal bankruptcies (more than 50% currently are direct result of medical bills)

- Vast improvement in national health rates due to coverage extension to all Americans.

Mandatory employer-provided coverage (or individually-provided for that matter) will not achieve any of the above benefits.

01-15-2008, 11:02 PM	#4 (permalink)
joshbaumgartner Insane	Mandatory employer-provided health care is not a solution to the problem we face. The driving factor behind the health care issue is cost. Cost cannot be reduced so long as we insist on centering our care finances on a bloated insurance industry that only spends 40-60% of what we pay into it on our health care. The insurance industry is grossly inefficient by any measure, and making purchase of insurance mandatory will not give them any incentive to become more efficient--quite the opposite. Employer-provided health care is a relic of the past and puts our companies at disadvantage when facing competition in the global markets. Enforcing it through making it mandatory or making such a system the center-piece of a health care solution is not a real solution. Costs will continue to hobble us, no matter how we hide them. Make no mistake, health-care benefits are not a gift from your employer. They are your employer spending your wages on insurance. Granted, there are some tax implications because they are not technically wages, but the fact is that is YOUR money being spent on those benefits. Those premiums are coming out of YOUR pocket. Opposite to making insurance companies a mandatory part of the equation, I support making them a purely optional part of the equation. How? By having a universal comprehensive single-payer system to ensure basic health care needs for all people. That way if you want to go above and beyond this level, you can opt into an insurance program to defer costs. Insurance companies will no longer have the sword of Damocles to hang over consumers, since having insurance will no longer mean risking one's basic health, but instead be a merely voluntary item for those seeking more costly optional benefits. Single-payer universal comprehensive health care: - Employers are not hobbled by the cost and administration of health insurance programs. - Elimination of the Insurance Industry black hole (savings of as much 4% of our GNP off the top) - End of most current labor disputes (most strikes in the last decade have centered on health benefits) - Drastic reduction in personal bankruptcies (more than 50% currently are direct result of medical bills) - Vast improvement in national health rates due to coverage extension to all Americans. Mandatory employer-provided coverage (or individually-provided for that matter) will not achieve any of the above benefits.