Thursday, March 6, 2014

Four Plans, and Mine -- Which Would be Unpopular -- Makes Five

   Four plans on the table for poverty insurance in Utah. I'll add a fifth plan, and it'll be the most unpopular of the bunch.
   First there is medicaid expansion. Second, there is House Speaker Becky Lockhart's proposal to reject federal medicaid expansion money and do what we can on our own. Third, there is Gov. Gary Herbert's plan to get federal assistance for a private industry plan. Fourth, there is Sen. Brian Shiowaza's plan, which I believe is similiar to the governor's.
   I've liked Lockhart's plan, for the reason that the money to pay for Medicaid expansion would end up contributing to the national deficit, and to me, that is a major concern. Trouble with Lockhart's proposal, it wouldn't cover but a fraction (I think it's like a tenth) of those that the Medicaid expansion plan would.
   I heard a friend tell me tonight about how he is headed to a funeral tomorrow, for the wife of a man who lost his job and couldn't afford insurance. So, she didn't see the doctor, and ended up with stage 4 cancer before it was discovered.
   Yes, I believe we should provide a way for everyone to have health care.
   So, what's the answer? What do you do if you want everyone to have health care, but you don't want to run up the national deficit?
    You take Lockhart's proposal and amp it up to the extreme. If you take federal money, it will end up contributing to the national deficit. So, don't take it. Instead, fund the insurance out of your own pocket, even though it means leaving millions of "free" federal money on the table.
    But, dig deep enough to cover everyone who needs to be covered. If the program needs to be 10 times bigger, make it 10 times bigger.
    And, raise taxes to pay for it.
   See, I told you my idea would be the most unpopular of all.
   I will only say that if a bill has to be paid, you pay it. You don't borrow. And, if a service is necessary, you provide it.
   I think about paring this with Gov. Herbert's suggestion that we have private enterprise administer the money. I love private enterprise. But, I don't like the idea of government money paying the way for private companies. If it is to be state money, allow, then, that it will be a state-operated program.
  There are two things we should do, going along with this. One, provide a way for those who receive the Utah insurance to work for what they get, or to provide some work. Two, work like the dickens to reduce the high cost of health care. I am not convinced health care has to be this expensive.

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