Back in the USSA...

Healthcare reform passed yesterday, so....welcome to the United Socialist States of America. I cannot believe that people voted for it, and that some people actually think it is a good thing. Everything our government touches breaks. It's like the opposite of the Midas touch, instead of turning to gold, it just rusts away and pollutes everything around it. Now I'm not saying that everything in this bill is bad, and I do agree that there needs to be some reform. But a socialist, European-style health care system is not the solution. And since I don't feel like people should complain unless they have some sort of solution to propose here's what I would do.
I agree with the fact that insurances shouldn't be able to turn someone away for pre-existing medical conditions. And I'll even give into allowing children to stay on their parents insurance longer, but 24 should be the age limit. Nowadays a 4 year degree usually does take 5-6 years, but by 24 one should be able to provide for themself. And I even agree with getting rid of the lifetime maximums. Medical care these days is expensive, and one shouldn't have to go without care for a critical condition because they've reached the lifetime maximum. That being said, I would charge people who smoke higher premiums. Smoking is the worst thing one can do for their health, and people who don't smoke should not be paying for medical treatment for those who do. Quit smoking and not only do you improve your health, you pay less for healthcare. Its a win-win situation.
People come into the ER all the time with medi-cal (medic-aid in other states) for the stupidest things, a sore throat at 3am, or a fever that they haven't tried treating at home at all. Sometimes they come in twice in one day, or they'll come in day after day. These people pay absolutely no copay at all. If I go to the ER, I pay a $50 copay, for every visit. If I go twice in one day, thats two $50 copays. I would make medi-cal patients pay a copay. They walk into the ER, talking on their iPhones, with their name brand purses, or shoes, drinking Starbucks, but they want a prescription for Tylenol so medi-cal will pay for it and they don't have to shell out the three bucks. If they can afford all that, they can pay a ten or fifteen dollar copay, and I would increase the copay if they visit the ER more than, say 5 times in a month. Not only would paying a copay discourage visits for non-emergent conditions, that money could go to paying for more urgent care centers to take care of these issues. This would free up our ER's for truly emergent conditions. Another thing people come in for all the time is refills for pain medications prescriptions. These people are addicted to pain meds, and they run out of their Rx's and so they come into the ER asking for refills. I would allow ER's to say to these people, this is not an emergency, here is a list of urgent cares, you can go see one of them. Again, this frees up critical beds for patients that truly need it. I personally have had several patients come in asking for pregnancy tests, we legally cannot turn these people away. This is ridiculous, go to the store and buy a five dollar EPT and do it yourself. But we can't say that, and that needs to change.
I would also allow small businesses to pay the same as large corporations do for insurance. I know large companies get a discount because they have more employees contributing to the premiums, and I would allow small businesses to pay those lower prices as well.
These are just a few ideas, but to me they're just common sense, and we need more of that in our politicians! Wouldn't common sense be nice for a change?
By the way, the only good thing about this bill passing..Republicans will take control of Congress in the fall (and have no fear, they will. Americans are going to come out in force this November and those who voted yes for this bill better be looking for a new employer.) Anyway, the best part is Nancy Pelosi won't be speaker of the house anymore, and I won't have to see her overly-Botoxed face banging that stupid gavel ever again! That's cause for celebration!