Mandating Health Insurance – Hmm: Sounds Good.
June 4, 2009 at 2:57 pm achiplin Leave a comment
The President favors requiring everyone to have health insurance coverage (Washington Post, p. A4, June 4, 2009). That’s a good idea, but how do you get there from here? The conversation is confusing. Employer mandates, individual mandates, subsidies for employers, subsidies for the poor, healthcare exchanges, go figure! What about the CHIP program? And, where will Medicare and Medicaid be in the mix? With employer-based coverage being in a state of flux and the fragility of our economy, including rampant job loss, relying on employer-based coverage seems risky, to say the least. Then there are the many issues of deciding the nature and scope of services and benefits to include in mandatory health insurance packages and how to make sure that mandatory insurance actually yields health care.
The solution: A strong public program, available to everyone, that guarantees health care coverage for all. Hmm, maybe we can get there from here.
Entry filed under: Health Care Reform, Public vs. Private Health Coverage.
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