Saturday, October 1, 2011

With Ryan, we're closer than ever to health care bankruptcy...all of us.

Rep. Paul Ryan's newest scheme to turn a profit from peoples ill health is sketchy right now. But like most of his plans, they're grandiose and cruel. Here are a few reports that give some idea of how Ryan intends to attack what should be a right and hand us over to nameless bureaucrats.
Liveinsurance news: Paul Ryan gave a significant speech at the Hoover Institution about health reform. Ryan has proposed an approach geared more toward the free market. It would mean a more “patient-centered” system and would allow an employee to bring a portable, refundable tax credit with them from one job to another.
Here's the old line about health care consumerism, which doesn't really exist:
Townhall: If Ryan's plan becomes law, it's likely that most companies would drop their plans. Why provide coverage when employees now pay tax on the benefit but get a tax credit if they buy their own plans? The advantage is that employees would no longer lose their coverage if they lose their jobs. The policies would belong to them and be fully portable to the next job. It would also turn workers into consumers, giving them an incentive to shop for the lowest cost plans with their own money. 
Here's a look at the obvious downside to Ryan's plan:
Ebn: "Giving patients and consumers control over health care resources would make all Americans less dependent on big business and big government for our health security; give us more control over the care we get; and force health care providers to compete for our business," Ryan said. The proposed change could encourage people to drop their employer-sponsored plans and shift to the individual market where policies can be expensive. "When you break everyone off individually, you diffuse the bargaining power and you have to go and buy insurance on your own," said JoAnn Volk of Georgetown University's Health Policy Institute. "Republicans voted to stick it to seniors by ending Medicare, increasing costs and putting insurance companies in charge, and now they're trying to stick it to the middle class by putting millions of Americans at the mercy of insurance companies," said Nadeam Elshami, a spokesman for House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi. 
Here an insightful comment with the biggest downside, and a costly one:
...fails to acknowledge one factor in the price of health care; the larger the pool of workers from one employer, the lower the cost of the premium. Buying individual health insurance is a lot more expensive than buying it through a pool of workers or individuals.

There are payroll companies that cater to small business for this very purpose. Even if workers are required to purchase 100 percent of their health insurance they can get a better rate if the employees are lumped into one group.
Another comment:
Sorry to burst your bubble, but Paul Ryan’s plan benefits the health insurance industry by driving everyone into more expensive individual plans. As always, follow the money on any plan put forth by any politician to see who actually benefits.

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